Rio Olympics 2016: Eleanor Patterson, Alana Boyd among Aussie female athletes ready to make mark

Here are five women ready to take the pressure off Sally Pearson as Australia’s sole women’s track and field Olympic medal hope.

BEIJING, CHINA - AUGUST 29: Eleanor Patterson of Australia competes in the Women's High Jump final during day eight of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 29, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

THE years of relying on Sally Pearson as Australia’s sole women’s track and field Olympic medal hope could be coming to an end.

The erstwhile 100m hurdle superstar — who is on the road to recovery after suffering an horrific injury in Rome last year — will be back chasing her third Olympic medal in Rio after grabbing silver in Beijing (2008) and gold in London (2012).

But she won’t be the only Aussie female athlete with legitimate medal claims.

Australia has big chances in the high jump (Eleanor Patterson), pole vault (Alana Boyd), long jump (Brooke Stratton), 400m hurdles (Lauren Wells) and discus (Dani Samuels).

All — bar the injured Boyd — will be on show at the Australian Championships in Sydney starting late next week.

Eleanor Patterson

Age: 19

Event: high jump

Claim to fame: gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, world junior champion in 2013.

Highest leap: she has cleared 1.96 on two occasions, the first in 2013 in Townsville as a 17-year-old and then again in Sydney 18 months later. Patterson failed at 1.95m at the Beijing World Championships last year and failed at 1.97m in Melbourne recently.

The marks that matter: Alison Inverarity holds the Australian record at 1.98m, achieved in Germany in 1994. The world record sits at an incredible 2.09m and has been held since 1987 by Stefka Kostadinova. Anna Chicherova is the defending Olympic champion (2.05m) while Maria Kuchina won the world title in Beijing with a leap of 2.01.

Latest form: won in Canberra in February with leap of 1.91 but struggled in Queensland last weekend, jumping 1.87m. She reached the Olympic qualifying height of 1.93 in Melbourne earlier this month.

Main rivals: American Vashti Cunningham, who has only just turned 18, put herself in title calculations by taking gold last weekend at the World Indoor Championships with a leap of 1.96m. She is the daughter of longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, who is also her coach. “I’m excited on the inside and keeping it calm on the outside. It means a lot to be the world champion this young. I did not think that I would be here right now at 18 years old.”

Spanish veteran Ruth Beitia is still performing well at age 36 while Blanka Vlasic and Chicherova can’t be discounted.

Brooke Stratton finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships.

Brooke Stratton

Age: 22

Event: long jump

Claim to fame: finished fifth just a few days ago at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregan with a jump (6.75m) that would have won her bronze at the London Olympics.

Longest leap: set a personal best in Perth earlier this month with a mighty leap of 7.05m. It also broke the long-standing Australian record held by Bronwyn Thompson.

The marks that matter: Russian Galina Chistyakova set the world record of 7.52m way back in 1988. The defending Olympic champion is American Brittney Reese, who won in London with a jump of 7.22m. Another American — Tianna Bartoletta — won the world title last year with a leap of 7.12m.

Latest form: the past three weeks have been a special time, with the mark set in Perth and performance in Portland. Before that she won in Canberra (6.94).

Main rivals: Reese tore the cartilage around the socket in her hip during a competition in 2013 but the victory in Portland showed she is back to her best. Bartoletta will also be hard to beat, as will Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic.

Lauren Wells

Age: 27

Event: 400m hurdles

Claim to fame: eight-time national champion. She reached the semi-finals of the last world championships.

Fastest run: ran 55.08 in Belgium in 2013. Debbie Flintoff-King’s Seoul Olympics-winning time of 53.17 is still the Australian record. Jana Pittman’s best was 53.22 achieved in 2003.

The marks that matter: Yuliya Pechonkinaran holds the world mark of 52.34 from 2003. Another Russian — Natalya Antyukh — won Olympic gold in London in 52.70 while Czech star Zuzana Hejnova won the world title in 2015 in 53.50.

Latest form: Wells ran 56.07 in Sydney last weekend. She was initially disqualified but was later reinstated. It was the fourth time she had run under the Olympic qualification time. She also ran 56.78 in Melbourne earlier this month and 56.39 at the Canberra Track Classic in February.

Main rivals: two-time world champion Hejnova looms as the one to beat. Dane Sara Petersen had an excellent 2015 while Americans Cassandra Tate and Shamier Little are definite chances, as is Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer.

Lauren Wells has run some excellent times in recent months.

Alana Boyd

Age: 31

Event: pole vault

Claim to fame: two-time Commonwealth Games champion (2006 and 2010)

Highest jump: She has really hit form in recent months and it’s hoped the injury she suffered prior to the World Indoor Championships won’t set her back too much. Her best is a clearance of 4.77, achieved in January in Queensland. She has improved by 12cm in just six months.

The marks that matter: retired Russian star Yelena Isinbayeva cleared 5.06m in Zurich in 2009.

American veteran Jenn Suhr won a world indoor title this week with 4.90m after winning the 2012 Olympics with a leap of 4.75. Cuba’s Yarisley Silva won in Beijing last year with a jump 4.90m and was runner-up in London.

The injury: Boyd hurt her ankle just minutes before the start of the World Indoor Championships last week. She landed awkwardly during her final warm-up jump and was taken from the stadium in a wheelchair. She was later diagnosed with moderate lateral ankle sprain and her participation in the national titles is in severe doubt.

Main rivals: Suhr will start an overwhelming favourite judging on her latest form but there are a host of likely challengers. American Sandi Morris, Greek jumper Ekaterini Stefanidi, Silva and even young Kiwi Eliza McCartney, who cleared 4.8m in Dunedin recently and trains with Boyd in Sydney, can’t be discounted.

Dani Samuels has been near the medal mark in recent events.

Dani Samuels

Age: 27

Event: Discus

Claim to fame: world youth champion in 2005, world junior champion in 2006, world champion in 2009 and Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2014.

Longest throw: she threw 67.99 in Germany in 2014. Daniela Costian holds the Australian record with 68.72m back in 1994.

2009 world champion: at just 19, Samuels stunned the world by taking the title in Berlin. She threw personal bests on fourth and fifth throws to edge out Cuba’s Yarelis Barrios by .12cm.

The marks that matter: the world record is a 28-year old mark of 76.8m set by East German Gabriele Reinsch. The defending Olympic champion is Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic (69.11) who beat China’s Li Yanfeng. Samuels was 11th. Cuban Denia Caballero saluted at the world championships last year. Samuels finished sixth.

Injury concern: Samuels reportedly rolled her ankle at the beginning of the month, and while not considered a serious setback, it bares close watching.

Recent form: Samuels threw 63.25m at the Sydney Track Classic last weekend and 64.57 at the same venue at the end of February

Main rivals: Samuels is firmly in the medal reckoning but she still faces some stiff competition. Perkovic, second at the worlds last year, has been the athlete to beat for more than four years now. Caballero continues to throw well, as does countrywoman Yaimi Perez. English throw Jade Lilley has made great strides in a short time.

OTHERS TO WATCH: Genevieve La Caze and Madeline Hills (3000m steeplechase), Michelle Jenneke (100m hurdles)