MELBOURNE, 18 February 2005 — Australia’s Jana Pittman made a winning return to the track yesterday at an unfamiliar 800m distance at the IAAF Grand Prix II meet.
It was the 400m hurdles world champion’s first competitive race since last year’s Athens Olympics.
Pittman had originally planned to run the 400m flat in Melbourne, before stepping up to the 800m on the advice of her new coach and fiancé Chris Rawlinson. She won in a time of 2 minutes 04.03 seconds and now plans to run the 100m hurdles in another meet in Adelaide tomorrow. But she has yet to decide whether she will contest the 400m hurdles at next month’s national championships in Sydney.
Her main aim for this year is defending the 400m hurdles title at the world championships in Helsinki in August.
“I’m really pleased, I felt really, really strong,” said the 22-year-old Pittman.
“I could have kicked a bit earlier and it would have been good to battle the last 100 meters with somebody else, so I’m just pleased I made it the whole way around - it’s a long way.”
It was Pittman’s first race since she finished fifth in the 400m hurdles final at the Athens Olympics after battling through a knee injury suffered on the eve of the Games.
Since then she has split with coach Phil King, with Rawlinson taking charge of her career.
The Englishman is the reigning Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles champion and won his event in 50.50 seconds yesterday. Daniel Batman upstaged the biggest names in Australian sprinting and some well-credentialed international runners to win an unexpected 100m-200m double. He clocked 10.33 seconds to edge out national champion Josh Ross in the 100m and then set a new personal best and bettered the world championships A qualifying standard in the 200m with 20.56.
Left in his wake were Australian stars Ross, Matt Shirvington and Patrick Johnson, British Olympic 4x100m gold medalist Marlon Devonish and world championship 100m finalist Kareem Streete-Thompson of the Cayman Islands.
Commonwealth champion Michael Blackwood won the 400m in 45.81 with Jamaican compatriot Michael McDonald third in 46.24. Jamaica’s Chris Pinnock, an Olympic semifinalist, took the 110m hurdles in 14.09.
Kenyan Commonwealth silver medalist William Chirchir won the 1500m in 3:37.58 with countryman Charles Bett third. Another Kenyan Michael Rotich claimed the 800m in 1:48.25.
Australian Olympian Craig Mottram was too strong for Tanzanians Samuel Mwera and Patrick Nyangelo, winning the 5000m in 13:28.05. The 3000m steeplechase Kenyan distance star Collins Kosgei won his event in 8:28.12.
