Stewart McSweyn wins 5000m national title and dedicates win to former mentor
Stewart McSweyn has taken out the 5000m national title meaning he has now qualified over two distances for the 2020 Olympics. And he plans to give himself a chance at competing in another race in Tokyo.
Olympics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Olympics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An emotional Stewart McSweyn has dedicated his stunning 5000m national title victory to Maurie Plant, his former mentor and agent who passed away last month.
McSweyn pointed to the black tape on his arm as he crossed the line to honour Plant who’d helped him go from King Island to the world stage over the past couple of years.
“I’m wearing an armband tonight for Maurie Plant, a guy who meant a lot to me when I was up and coming,” he said.
“He had a lot more faith - him and Nic Bideau - more than anyone else in Australia or in the world.
“He was able to get me in races in 2018 when I don’t know if I was good enough to be in some of those Diamond Leagues but he was able to have the faith and put his name on the line for me so to be able to do that for him tonight meant a lot.”
McSweyn, 24, has now qualified for both the 5000m and 10,000m for the Tokyo Olympics and has his sights set on adding the 1500m to that list at next month’s national championships in Sydney.
The Tasmanian will only run two events at the Games but won’t make a decision on which ones until closer to the event.
After a messy start to the race, McSweyn took over with five laps remaining and was in a world of his own over the final 400m to claim the national title in 13min38.77sec.
His Melbourne Track Club training partner Matthew Ramsden surged late to grab second (13:48.67sec) from a gallant Sam Mcentee (13:49.28sec).
“It’s nice as a kid you dream of going to the Olympics so to book myself in two events is nice and I’m still going to be leaving it open for the 1500,” McSweyn said.
“I’m definitely going better than this time last year which is exciting.”
In the women’s 5000m US-based Jessica Hull qualified for her first Olympic Games with an emphatic victory.
“It’s pretty surreal,” she said. “It’s been a long time, it’s been a dream, when you are a kid you think it’s going to happen sooner.
“In 2016 I was like ‘Yeah I am going to go to Rio’ but obviously I was still young. But now 2020 it is a reality and it’s so exciting.”
Hull, 23, exploded away at the 600m mark to claim the national title in 15min06.12sec - her second Olympic qualifier.
Despite the ease of her victory the former US college star said she was undecided about whether she’d be running the 5000m in Tokyo or the 1500m .
One of the highlights of the night came from 24-year-old Queenslander Liz Clay who clocked 12.94sec to become the fourth fastest 100m hurdler in Australian history.