Tori West has broken a 20 year podium drought for Australia in the Heptathlon, winning bronze in a gusty performance.
A strong second day, with a PB in the long jump, a solid javelin throw by the former Australian U18 champion in that event, and a bold 800m race, saw her hold on to the bronze medal by 54 points with a score of 6104 points.
“I was really pleased with how I held it together,” 30-year-old West said.
This is a championship, so it’s not about the big scores. It’s about competing on the day. Are you ready? Are you healthy? Can you make the most of the conditions? It was very tough at times, so I’m really proud of how I held it together and kept my head in a good place.
Tori West
With Northern Ireland’s Katherine O’Connor (gold, 6569 points) and England’s Jade O’Dowda (silver, 6278 points) establishing a strong margin over the rest of the field on day, it was a come-from-behind performance from West, who didn’t move into the medal positions until the second-to-last event, the javelin.
Day one opened for West with 13.55 in the 100m hurdles, followed by 1.70m in the high jump and a 12.51m shot put. They were solid performances, but short of her bests.
The day ended in soaking conditions, with a 24.60 200m run. That saw West in 6th place with 2593 points.
Compatriot Mia Scerri moved into the bronze medal position following the long jump, and West gathered momentum with a personal best leap of 6.13m. Although it saw her lose ground on a number of the field, it kept her in contention.
Then came the javelin. Scerri’s weakest event, and by the end of it she was out of medal contention. The opposite happened for West, with a solid 47.24m throw moving her into bronze.
The challenge? England’s Ellen Barber, a superior 800m runner with a 2:09 PB to West’s 2:16, was within striking distance of 95 points. A margin of around 6.6 seconds would be needed in the 800m for the placings to change.
The convention wisdom would be to run to one’s ability, trail the faster Barber and not let the gap get too large. West did the opposite, leading through the bell in a swift 63.07 seconds.
“That was incredibly stupid,” she said afterward.
“I ran that first lap too bloody hard, and then I had to hold on for dear life and count the seconds watching Ellen cross ahead of me because I knew she was going to be good.”
But it was effective, with Barber passing West but only running 2:12.29. West virtually dragged herself to the finishing line – her final 100m taking an agonising 19.4 seconds – for a new personal best over the distance of 2:15.23.
“Oh my God, then my head started throbbing. But then the board came up and all my fears were gone. I did it.”
Tori West
Mia Scerri also clocked an 800m PB, of 2:14.52, to round out her competition in 7th place with a score of 5996 points.
Wheelchair racer Mikaela Dingley is currently listed as the bronze medallist in the Women’s 1500m T54 following the disqualification of Canada’s Nandini Sharma in a race marred by falls, but the event remains under appeal with an outcome expected on Thursday morning local time.
Cara Feain-Ryan ran the fastest ever 3000m steeplechase by an Australian at the Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth. Her 9:22.07 was just short of her personal best set earlier this year.
Jaydon Page ran a season’s best of 10.97 seconds to finish fourth in the T47 100m.
Chris Mitrevski leapt out to 8.02m in the penultimate round of the long jump but wasn’t able to improve into a medal position in his final jump, finishing fourth. Liam Adcock was eighth in 7.74m.
Marley Raikiwasa was sixth in the shot put on senior debut in the green and gold, with a throw of 16.13m. Michael Burian swapped the javelin for the discus, finishing 8th in 44.24m in the F42-F44 event.
Sarah Billings safely progressed through to the final, with a weaving run with 200m to go getting her a clear line to trail world indoor 1500m champion Georgia Hunter-Bell to the line, 1:59.88 to 2:00.05.
