It has taken 49 years for the mark to be bettered, 20-year-old Joseph Deng has broken the Australian 800m record in emphatic style recording a time of 1:44.21 at the Monaco Diamond League.
It’s one of the most celebrated records in Australian athletics history. In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics Ralph Doubell ran 1:44.40 to set a new World Record and win gold, a mark equalled by Alex Rowe at the Monaco Diamond League 46 years later.
Deng was composed and sat mid-field throughout the race, going through 50.7 over the first lap. With the finish line in sight, he gave it one final push - eclipsing the Australian record by 0.19 of a second.
In a race that saw two other national records broken, Deng knew a fast time was on the cards under the instruction of his coach, Justin Rinaldi.
“It feels great, coming into this race I knew it was going to be fast, so my coach and I talked about it and he said ‘just stick in fifth or sixth position and you’ll go through pretty quick,” Deng explained.
“It feels great because the guy that equalled the record ran that here four years ago and he was a part of our training squad, but it feels great to have the record now.”
Deng was born in a Kenyan refugee camp in 1998 after his mother fled the brutal civil war in Sudan.
The family arrived in Queensland in 2004, with Deng soon showing huge promise as an athlete.
Deng has given the record a nudge on three occasions in 2018, clocking 1:44.61 and 1:44.97 in a matter of days. Weeks later he again produced a world-class time with 1:44.67 at the Paris Diamond League. Surpassing Jeffrey Riseley, Deng is the first Australian to clock four sub-1:45 performances in their career.
Deng’s performance also broke the long-standing Oceania Record of 1:44.3 which was set by New Zealander Peter Snell in 1962.
Training partner, Peter Bol who has similarly been edging closer to the national record in 2018 was ecstatic for Deng and also finished 9th in 1:46.64.
“A well-deserved national record from #dengfever and the most exciting season I’ve had!”
Earlier this year, Deng made headlines when he was selected for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games where he set a qualifying time by front-running in the B-final at the Australian Championships in February, his selection was justified by finishing seventh in the final.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Luke Mathews earlier this year made the bold prediction that Deng was the one to lower the national record, he wasn’t wrong.
Mathews believes Deng is an “absolutely incredible” talent.
“I've got a lot of respect for Joseph Deng and I think he could be our first guy to go sub-1:44,” Mathews said.
“He could do anything and he is an absolute specimen.”
In what has been a momentous weekend of athletics for Victorian Institute of Sport athletes, Linden Hall used the record breaking performance of Deng to inspire yet another national record at the London Diamond League.
Hall obliterated the 11-year-old mile record by 1.26 seconds to record 4:21.40, finishing 10th.
“So happy to knock off the record today. Once we heard it was going to be a mile in London we decided to target it in the hope of breaking the record,” Hall said.
“I couldn’t help but be inspired by Jo Deng on Friday and all the other Aussies who’ve had great runs in Monaco, Heusden and here in London.”
This caps off Hall’s best season to date, after setting a new 1500m record in May and finishing fourth at the Commonwealth Games.
Also competing in London, Ryan Gregson fared well in what was a tactical affair in the men’s 1500m, finishing second in 3:35.35, a mere 0.13 behind Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz. Lining up in the same race, Jordan Williamsz finished 11th in a time of 3:36.78. Brooke Stratton continued her consistent season, finishing third with a jump of 6.78m. Stratton will now set her sights on the Continental Cup in September.
At the European Athletics Association Night of Athletics in Huesden, Madeline Hills edged closer to her personal best over 5000m, clocking a time of 15:06.19 – the fourth fastest time ever recorded by an Australian. Fellow VIS scholarship holder, Georgia Griffith clocked 4:11.45 in the women’s 1500m.
