Bol blazes as Perth turns up the heat

Backed by a vocal home crowd in Perth, Peter Bol delivered a performance that lifted the stadium and underlined his class.

Bol, 32, delivered a two-lap masterclass in the men’s 800m, clocking 1:43.89 to break the meet record and dip under 1:44 for the fifth time in 12 months.

Photos by Michael Hall for Inside Athletics

“I was second in Birmingham and I want to make it one better in Glasgow,” Bol said. “This is a right step in that direction.”

Bol reflected on the performance in front of his home crowd.

“It’s really special to be back home, to run 1:43 again… it’s the second time I’ve run 1:43 in Australia and both have been in Perth. It’s special. And I’m proud of that. But it’s just the start of the season and we need to keep rolling.”

If Bol stole the show, 19-year-old Bob Abdelrahim ensured the encore was just as compelling. The teenager chased his training partner Bol to the line in 1:44.27, slashing more than two seconds off the personal best he set just a week ago, and four seconds off the mark that won him last year’s national junior title. In the space of 12 months, he’s transformed from junior champion to fourth on the Australian all-time list. UK training partner Tiarnan Crorken was third in 1:44.53 while world championship representative Luke Boyes was fourth in 1:45.12. Along with fifth placed Trinidadian Nathan Cumberbatch (1:45.64) they all ran under the World Indoor qualifying standard.

Abbey Caldwell added further middle-distance quality, unleashing a final-lap flourish to claim the women’s 1500m in a meet and track record 4:02.82 ahead of Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, with third place-getter Jaylah Hancock-Cameron setting a new personal best of 4:07.14.

Kennedy returns, Marschall rises

After 518 days away from competition, Olympic champion Nina Kennedy looked like she’d never left.

Clearing 4.47m off a shortened run-up — and doing so with a clean card — Kennedy eased to victory before calling it a day, satisfied with both the win and the composure under pressure.

“It was a really fun day, filled with a lot of nerves and anxiety, but I’m really happy how I approached it,” she said.

In the men’s vault, Kurtis Marschall opened his year with 5.83m, banking a Commonwealth qualifier and laying the foundation for bigger heights to come. A higher 5.90m clearance may have eluded him, but the season has lift-off.

400m breakthrough as sprints sizzle

The 400m runners ensured Perth’s heat extended beyond the thermometer.

Cooper Sherman powered to a venue record 44.85 to exactly hit the Commonwealth standard, while Jemma Pollard stormed to 51.73 in a pair of breakthrough performances that reshaped the domestic one-lap landscape.

“I did the Canberra Champs a few weeks ago and PB’d there, which I sort of wasn’t expecting,” Sherman said. “I did a 400m the week before Canberra and ran a 46.6, which is a huge difference.”

“I got the biomechanical analysis from Canberra and it had less than ideal splits. So I thought ‘if I can get this right in Perth’ then I have a guaranteed sub-45 coming.

“So I was expecting it, but I also wasn’t, because I’ve never run that fast and you still need to execute everything to get there.”

Sherman reflected that the first 200m, run into a headwind, was slower than he had hoped for, auguring well for further improvement during the season.

For Pollard, 20, the performance was her first time under 52 seconds. The Novocastrian took line honours ahead of national champion, Ellie Beer, who ran 52.29s in her season opening performance, with Victoria’s Alexia Loizou taking third in a personal best of 52.64s.

In the 100m, Joshua Azzopardi opened his season by equalling his personal best of 10.09 (+1.9) following a 10.10 (+2.9) heat run, showing sharp early-season speed despite admitting there’s still polish to come.

“I had a bit of a hammy tear back in December, so I’m happy to come out tonight and run an equal PB,” Azzopardi said. “It wasn’t a greatly executed race, so there’s plenty to talk to the coach about and move on from there.”

Michelle Jenneke was clean over the hurdles, running to a two-tenths-of-a-second victory in a wind-assisted 12.73s (+2.6). It was the fastest all-conditions performance by the 32-year-old since before the Paris Olympics. William Wong (13.93, +2.7) took out the men’s 110m hurdles in a photo-finish from Japan’s Ryo Koike.

Across the women’s sprint final, illegal wind (+2.2) assisted New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs to 11.07 to an all-conditions venue record, ahead of Ebony Lane (11.16) and 14-year-old Charlotte Ehioghae (11.22): a reminder that raw speed was abundant, even if the times won’t count.

Then came one of the night’s busiest men: Christopher Ius.

The New South Welshman claimed the 200m in 20.54, but that only told part of the story. Within the space of an hour, Ius had already run 10.21 in his 100m heat and 10.18 in the final (for third), making it three personal bests in a single session: a rare triple.

In the women’s race Monique Hanlon (23.31, PB) and Amaya Mearns (23.48) ran down former national champion Ella Connolly (23.48) over the last 50 metres.

Sarah Carli broke the meet record with a 55.36s victory in the 400m hurdles over local Alanah Yukich (56.25).

Wind-assisted leaps and long throws

The field events added their own theatre. Izobelle Louison-Roe soared 13.47m (+2.5) in the triple jump to edge Desleigh Owusu (13.45m, +3.3)in a wind-aided duel, while Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage launched the javelin 83.07m to claim the men’s title.

But in the west, this day belonged to Bol: a homecoming, a meet record, and another step toward Glasgow. If Perth was a statement, the rest of the summer has been officially put on notice.

Commonwealth Games qualifiers

With a hard cap of 63 athletes for the Australian team to Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, the only way to avoid selector discretion (and their almost impossible juggling act of comparing sprinters, to distance runners, to throwers, to jumper and walkers; and across genders) is to achieve the tough qualifying standard by nationals and claim the national title. The following athletes achieved qualifying marks for the first time since the qualifying period opened on 1 September 2025:

• 400m (44.85): Cooper Sherman 44.85
• 800m (1:44.50): Peter Bol 1:43.89, Bob Abdelrahim 1:44.27

See a list of all current Commonwealth Games qualifiers

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