Luke Mathews wins Australian 800m title to book place at Rio Olympic Games

AN Olympic year is the perfect time for a career break-out and on Saturday night Luke Mathews got his timing right again.

AN Olympic year is the perfect time for a career break-out and on Saturday night Luke Mathews got his timing right again.

The revelation of the domestic season won his first Australian 800m title in devastating fashion to book a spot on the plane to Rio.

Mathews, 20, was dominant, clocking 1min46.20sec in an action-packed race which saw one of his main rivals Joshua Ralph fall in the first lap.

Luke Matthews celebrates as he heads to the finish line to win the mens 800m final during the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney on Saturday night.

“It’s just relief if anything,” he said. “I know that I could do it but actually coming out here and doing it is a different thing.

“I had to factor in so many variables, people falling and for it all to go perfect on the night.

“It’s just a build-up of the last 12 months and that was the climax.”

National record holder Alex Rowe kept his Olympic dream alive by rallying late along the inside to grab second in 1:47.31sec with Mason Cohen third (1:47.41sec).

Since his victory at the Hunter Classic in January in a career-best time, Mathews has dominated with the highlight coming at the Melbourne Grand Prix where he pushed Olympic and world champion David Rudisha.

“I knew that one of those three spots was mine and I just had to do something that was going to make sure it was mine,” he said.

“I wasn’t going to come to the national championships and lose.

“I told Mum, the Olympics is only every four years and you only get a handful in your career. They come every four years and everything has to be right leading up to.

“Some people missed out on Olympics because things have happened and I wasn’t going to let that happen to me.

“I certainly didn’t want to wait another four years to go to an Olympics.”

The Williamstown university student flies to the US for altitude training with his Melbourne Track Club training group on Monday but admitted he would bask in the glory of his achievement briefly.

“I want to try for the Australian record, try to make the Olympic final but for now I just had to get that out of the way first,” Mathews said.

“I’m just going to live on cloud nine for the next three days or something, walk with my chest out.”

In the women’s 1500m former US college star Heidi See won her first national title after race favourite and world indoor finalist Melissa Duncan was forced to withdraw because of a foot problem.

Originally published as Luke Mathews wins Australian 800m title to book place at Rio Olympic Games