Australia’s male sprinters on blocks for Paris relay, and they’ve still got our fastest man to call up
By Michael Gleeson and John Salvado
Australia will have men’s and women’s sprint relay teams at this year’s Olympics for the first time since the home games in Sydney 24 years ago after Australia’s men claimed a place in the 4x100m relay field.
A day after Australia’s women – driven by teenage star Torrie Lewis – smashed the national 4x100-metre record to claim an automatic spot at the Paris Olympics they were joined by the men’s team.
The men’s relay team that earned Australia a berth at this year’s Paris 2024 Olympics: Seb Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Josh Azzopardi.Credit: Athletics Australia / Sonya Maleter
Australia’s team of Seb Sultana, the 18-year-old who won his first national title last month, Jacob Despard, Josh Azzopardi and Calab Law ran 38.46 seconds to finish fifth overall and qualify for Paris.
Both men’s and women’s teams finished fifth on times at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas, positioning them not only to compete in Paris in August, but be considered serious medal contenders.
“I was very confident after the heat yesterday and knew we could get it done. It feels absolutely incredible to have qualified for the Paris Olympics, fulfilling a childhood dream,” Sultana said.
Jacob Despard and Seb Sultana celebrate their qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s 4x100-metre relay.Credit: Athletics Australia / Sonya Maleter
Josh Azzopardi, who anchored the race, added: “The race went to plan, we had the goal of coming to the Bahamas to qualify for Paris, and we have done that. We’ve been working together for a long period of time and to have finally put together a good race is absolutely awesome.
“The Olympics is the pinnacle of sport, and to go up against the best in the world in such a strong event is something dreams are made of.”
Josh Azzopardi anchors Australia’s run into Paris Games qualification.Credit: Athletics Australia / Sonya Maleter
The men’s team was denied an automatic qualification for Paris after the heats on Saturday. They ran 38.50s, but were knocked out of second spot by Jamaica in a photo finish. The top two in each heat advanced to the final and automatic Olympic selection.
Australia made clean work of qualifying with their impressive run in the final.
Australia’s fastest woman, Torrie Lewis.Credit: Getty Images
Australia’s best performed male sprinter of recent years, Rohan Browning, will be added to the relay squad for Paris.
The result came just 24 hours after Australia’s team of Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, Ella Connolly and Lewis clocked 42.83s to finish second in their heat behind Germany.
It was the fifth-fastest overall time. The US women were fastest in the Bahamas qualifying round in 42.21s.
“I think we all had a lot of trust in each other, so we said, ‘You know what, let’s just relax, we’ve done the work and we’ve done this a million times’,” Connolly said.
“Let’s just go do this and qualify for the Olympics together.”
The same quartet had flagged they were destined for great things by running 42.94s at the Sydney Track Classic in late March, breaking an Australian standard that had stood for 24 years. They will run in the final on Monday (AEST).
Australia’s best performed international sprinter Rohan Browning will be added to the relay squad for Paris.Credit: Getty Images
“I’m so speechless! I had full faith that we could do it, but we actually did it and it’s just wild. To have that automatic Olympic qualification is so, so exciting,” Masters said.
Lewis, 19, is also well-placed to contest either the individual 100 metres or 200 metres in Paris. Last month, she beat the world 100-metre champ, Sha’Carri Richardson, in a stunning 200-metre triumph at the season’s opening Diamond League meeting in China.
In that race, she clocked 22.96s, the second-quickest 200 metres of her career. It also edged her closer to Raelene Boyle’s 56-year-old Australian under-20 record as well as the Olympic qualifying standard of 22.57s.
An American team including world 100-metre and 200-metre champ Noah Lyles led the automatic qualifiers in 37.49 – the fastest time in the world this year.
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