Athletics world championships: Australian long jumper Brooke Stratton tweaks run up to perform at peak
Australia’s Brook Stratton admits she hasn’t been at her best coming into the worlds in Doha but the self-proclaimed ‘big-time performer’ says expectations remain high for her long jump event.
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Long-jumper Brooke Stratton is hoping she can get a similar result by following a strategy which worked wonders for world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber.
Midway through the javelin final, Barber changed her run-up with the result being the winning throw at her final attempt.
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Stratton has gone for the run-up change a bit earlier than her teammate but she’s hoping it can provide a much-needed spark coming into the world championships.
“Competition-wise I haven’t exactly competed as well as I had hoped,” Stratton said. “The distances haven’t quite been where I wanted them to be.
“But having been over in Italy for the last few weeks I fell that things have just started to click.
“I’ve changed my run up a little bit which I think has been the issue this season. I wasn’t quite running through the board, I was hesitating and steering for the board.
“I took my run-up back just over a metre. It doesn’t sound like much but over 35m it’s a pretty big change.
“Hopefully that will allow for my more speed through my take-off.”
The good thing for Stratton, 26, is her ability to perform when the spotlight is at its brightest.
At her Olympic debut in Rio, the Melbourne jumper finished seventh in the final and then backed it up with a sixth placing at the 2017 world championships.
The Australian record holder — she jumped 7.05m in 2016 — then claimed the silver medal (6.77m) at last year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“I feel like I’m a big-time performer and I always seem to rise to the big occasions and hopefully this year it will be the same,” Stratton said.
“The hardest thing is making sure I’m staying confident and believing in myself. When you’re not getting the performances that you know you’re capable of it is frustrating.
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“But you’ve got to stay patient and that’s what I’ve been doing. I do feel like everything is starting to click at the right time and that the big jumps will come when it really counts.”
Germany’s Malaika Mihambo has been the stand-out jumper in the lead-up with a season’s best of 7.16m but behind her there is a group which includes Stratton.
“The women’s long jump is really open this year,” she said. “You’ve got the German who has consistently been jumping over seven metres but second and third place is up for anyone.
“It’s definitely open to to anyone really, it will pretty much be about who performs on the night.”
Stratton also has her eyes set on the Tokyo Olympic automatica qualifying mark of 6.82m.