Ella Nelson announces herself as Australia’s next sprint queen

SHE missed out on the 200m final by a whisker, but Ella Nelson has announced herself at the Rio Olympics, and looks to become the next Australian sprint queen.

Australia's Ella Nelson runs a PB in the Women's 200m Semi Final.

MARK this down as the night a star was born.

Ella Nelson has put her hand up to be the next Australian sprint queen.

At her first Olympic Games the 22-year-old came off an interrupted preparation — courtesy of two hamstring tears — to finish within a whisker of making the 200m Olympic final.

Nelson ran brilliantly in the semi-final, closing late to finish third in a personal best time of 22.50sec — missing a spot in the final by just .01sec.

“I ran a PB, I couldn’t be happier but I could, there was one spot there, one one-hundredth, but it was just incredible,” she said.

“I am so proud of myself for the year that I have had, and everything going forward I’m really looking forward to it.”

Nelson’s last race before Rio had been in April at the Mt Sac Relays in California where she first injured her hamstring.

Another setback during her rehabilitation forced her into cotton wool in the lead-up to her Olympic debut.

The Sydney sprinter’s idol is national 200m record holder Melinda Gainsford-Taylor who along with Cathy Freeman were the last Australians to feature in an Olympic final, finishing sixth and seventh respectively at Sydney 2000.

Australia's Ella Nelson runs a PB in the Women's 200m Semi Final.

It was there a six-year-old Nelson fell in love with Gainsford-Taylor.

“I first noticed Melinda at the Sydney 2000 Games, I’m sure you have seen that video of me screaming my head off on Twitter as a six-year-old,” she said.

“Ever since then she has just kept an eye out. I met her daughter a few times at the track which is really cool because I know Gaby kind of looks up to me which is surreal because I look up to Melinda.

“It’s kind of like passing it on to the next generation as well.

“And it’s really cool to have the Australian record holder there supporting you, egging you on to beat that (record) which is kind of weird.”

Asked if she can reach the same heights as Gainsford-Taylor, Nelson was emphatic: “Yes, definitely?

She then added: “If I had of had a complete year I think I would have done it this year.”

Nelson, who was run out in the heats of last year’s world championships in Beijing, turned her career around after that event when she went and trained in the US at the ALTIS facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

The results have been spectacularly given she’s reduced her personal best by half-a-second this year and she is now ranked No. 6 on Australia’s all-time list.

“Running .53sec quicker doesn’t happen ever, ever so I am pretty fortunate I have had the year I’ve had,” she said. “Hopefully I can just keep building on it, maybe by another .5 next year, probably not, but I will try.”

Nelson is planning to again split her time between Sydney, where she is coached by Michael Dooley, and Phoenix where she trains alongside Canada’s 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse.

Reigning world champion Dafne Schippers was the fastest qualifier into the final, clocking 21.96sec, from American Tori Bowie (22.13sec) and 100m Olympic champion Elaine Thompson (22.13sec).

Originally published as Ella Nelson announces herself as Australia’s next sprint queen