NEW DELHI, 28 May 2010: The Australian track and field squad to compete in the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi has risen to 74 with the addition of walker Jess Rothwell and marathon runners Lisa Flint, Martin Dent, Jeff Hunt and Michael Shelley. Athletics Australia hopes that number will increase to 90 by Games-time, including 12 elite athletes with a disability.
Coming back from injury, Rothwell finished ninth at the World Race Walking Cup in Mexico earlier this month. The 20-year-old will join Claire Tallent and Cheryl Webb in the women's 20km race in Delhi.
“For a long time, Jess has been regarded as having real potential going forward and the selectors had no hesitation in nominating her to the team,” AA Chairman of Selectors Mr. Peter Fitzgerald was quoted as saying in the Australian media.
Lisa Flint, Martin Dent, Jeff Hunt and Michael Shelley join Lisa Weightman, who earned automatic nomination to the team following her top-20 finish in Berlin last year, as australia’s representatives in the marathon events.
With just one marathon under his belt, Shelley said his first marathon in Rotterdam in April was a big learning experience. He finished 12th in 2:13:05hrs. He hit the wall at the 38km mark and was forced to battle over the final kilometres. “It was very tough for last couple kilometres," he said.
“But you learn a lot and my next run (in a marathon) will be in Delhi so I have plenty of time to get my training right. This is a stepping stone to the next hopeful goal which would be a marathon at the 2012 Olympics in London," said Shelley, who has run for Australia four times at the world cross-country championships.
Dent contested the 3000m steeplechase four years ago in Melbourne. Hunt impressed selectors by clocking a fast time of two hours 11 minutes on his marathon debut in Japan.
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