Day two of the IAAF World U20 Championships saw eight Australian women take centre stage in Finland.
Jarmillia Murphy-Knight, who made her international debut, has made the semi-finals of the 400m after finishing the race strong.
The 18-year-old finished fourth with a personal best of 59.19 seconds and qualified as one of the six fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
‘The atmosphere is great and I absolutely love it,’ says smiley Annamaria Leszczynska after she and Jarmilia Murphy-Knight run sub-60s in the 400 metre hurdle heats! #IAAFTAmpere2018 #ThisisAthletics pic.twitter.com/9kIVVOfjbi
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 11, 2018
Another debutant and teammate Annamaria Leszczynska was unable to hold her pace down the final 100m and finished sixth in her heat in a solid 59.94, missing out on a place in the semis.
Australian running rising star Riley Day started her Championships in fine form for the 100m with a time of 11.77 seconds to automatically qualify for the semi-finals later this afternoon.
Sprinters Riley Day and Mia Gross have an adrenaline-filled first round of the 100 metres, running 11.77 (+0.4) and 11.80 (+0.8) respectively. ‘I just wanted to go out here today and do what I could to get into the next round,’ Riley tells IAAF and Australia media. pic.twitter.com/jgHP0Dn5R6
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 11, 2018
Mia Gross placed fifth in her heat with a time of 11.80 seconds and had a nervous wait to see if she was one of the four fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
Unfortunately, she was knocked out in the final heat to miss by one spot, and just 0.03 seconds.
In the women’s 3000m Australians Amelia Mazza-Downie and Lara Crouch finished in the top 10.
Crouch and Mazza-Downie were part of the main pack with eventual gold and silver medalist Japanese duo Nozomi Tanaka and Yuna Wada.
Amelia Mazza-Downie and Lara Crouch finish 6th (9:09.19) and 10th (9:16.28) in the 3,000 metres here at the World U/20 Championships. Another double PB performance here in Tampere, Finland!! pic.twitter.com/QJLj82OYiF
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 11, 2018
Mazza-Downie finished in sixth place (9:09.19) while Crouch was tenth (9:16.28) as they both ran personal best.
Also on the track was Ella Connolly, who took the win in semi-final three of the 400m, in a season’s best 52.78 seconds and pipped Kenyan Mary Moraa on the line by 0.2 seconds.
Connolly built on her heat performance from yesterday, which was a season’s best of 52.99s.
“Making the final was my main goal so I'm absolutely ecstatic!” Connolly told Athletics Australia.
Ella Connolly strides to victory in the third semi-final (400 metre) in Tampere with a 52.78! Ella chats about ‘staying relaxed and having fun’ out there! pic.twitter.com/CvncxDLACB
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 11, 2018
“There's a lot of 52-second runners so I just need to stay relaxed.
"Everyone wants to compete in the world junior final. I'm just going to give it my all,” she said.
Carley Thomas is through to the final of the 800m after a commanding performance in her semi-final.
The 17 years old crossed the line in first place and in a new personal best 2:03.19.
“I just wanted to go with whatever moves people made," she said
What’s better than a lifetime best? Why, 2 x lifetime bests!! Our 800 metre girls Carley Thomas and Jemima Russell run 2:03.19 and 2:04.81 in the semi finals this afternoon in Tampere. Carley will run the final later this week!!! pic.twitter.com/PsYELqgwbC
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 11, 2018
“I was trying to look in my peripheral vision to see if anyone was coming up and I thought it’s now or never,” said Thomas.
She will go into the final as the fourth-fastest qualifier.
Teammate Jemima Russell had a lifetime best of 2.04.81 to finish fifth in the second semi but it wasn’t enough to progress
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