McSweyn locks in on Tokyo goal by blowing away another Australian record

Stewart McSweyn had qualified for three Olympic events, but he’s narrowed it down to one and will enter Tokyo in red hot form having smashed yet another Australian – and Australasian – record. LATEST >>

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STEWART McSweyn will head into the Tokyo Olympics most open event having just run his best ever race – so far.

McSweyn won the non-Olympic distance Dream Mile at the Oslo Diamond League event, while breaking the Australian and Australasian records with his cracking time of 3 minutes 48.37 seconds.

The Australian record was previously held by middle distance running legend Craig Mottram and had lasted 16 years before the King Island flyer took it down.

It was the fastest time over this distance by anyone since 2014 and the 22nd quickest ever recorded.

“I am very happy tonight,” McSweyn said.

“My season is going in the right direction going into the Olympics.

“I want to try and stay healthy going into Tokyo (but) I still have a few things to work on.”

King Islander Stewart McSweyn. Picture: GRANT WELLS

While qualifying for the Olympics in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m events, McSweyn will only run the shortest of the three distances in Tokyo.

“The 1500m is going to be a really tight competition but I am confident going into it,” he said.

“I did consider doubling up with the 5000m but the heats are all too close together and I don’t feel strong enough yet for that.”

Athletics expert and long time Tasmanian, Australian and international athletics administrator Brian Roe said with the withdrawal of Kenya’s world No.1 Timothy Cheruiyot, McSweyn had made the right call to focus on the 1500m.

Roe, who will be attending his seventh Olympics in Tokyo as the start referee for all the stadium events, said the 1500m was most open event at the Olympics, with 15 to 20 runners capable of making the final and the podium and McSweyn was right in the mix.

“With Cheruiyot, who was clearly the No.1, out that not only removes the person most likely to win but also it has a significant impact on the way the race would be run in the heats, semi finals and the final,” Roe said.

“It creates a real opportunity for Stewie to stamp what he clearly accepts now is his authority in the biggest race of all.

“He wouldn't would have had that same opportunity in the 10,000m, which is a straight final, or the 5000 where the team running by the Africans makes it really hard to even progress to the final.”

Brian Roe.

McSweyn, 26, was not a child prodigy when growing up on Bass Strait’s King Island, but blossomed under the program of athletics coaching guru Nic Bideau.

“It just goes to show you don’t have to be the best in the under-12s cross country at Symmons Plains to end up being the best in the world,” Roe said.

Roe said McSweyn’s run in Oslo was a stunning performance.

“It was a very significant run in his career but I hope it won’t be his best run for very long,” he said.

Tasmania’s A-League ace off to Tokyo Olympics

TASMANIAN soccer hero Nathaniel Atkinson is riding a wave of success after scoring a goal and being named best afield in Melbourne City’s A-League grand final win over Sydney FC on Sunday night and now selected for the Tokyo Olympic Games _ but injury could have made it a different story.

The 22-year-old from Launceston had a high-grade hamstring injury in April that threatened to end his A-League campaign.

Medicos feared it was a three-month tear.

2021 A-League Grand Final - Melbourne City v Sydney FC

That would have ruled the Melbourne City defender out of the A-league season and derailed all hope of selection for the Olyroos.

“When I first got the injury I thought that’s probably me done, and focus on the next preseason,” Atkinson said.

2021 A-League Grand Final - Melbourne City v Sydney FC

“I few things blessed me – a few Covid outbreaks, a few games delays, the finals were moved back and that gave me extra time to come back.

“I was really enjoying my football before the injury so it was a big kick to the guts.

“I worked hard and I got back into the line-up and played a bit of a different position.

“It has been nearly six years at this club and you’ve seen the heartbreak through the years so to come out on top finally, it’s great.”