‘I can take anyone’: How Peter Bol fought back from false doping accusation to make Olympic team

For context, the gold medal was won in Tokyo – admittedly in a relatively slow race – in a time of 1:45.06 and Bol ran 1:45.92 to come fourth. The time just to qualify for Paris is quicker than the gold medallist ran in Tokyo.

What was clear from the nationals was that Bol was nearing a return to his best and Boyes will almost certainly make the team, possibly along with Peyton Craig who came third at nationals. It also suggests Australia’s 800-metre runners are not only competitive but can challenge for medals.

“This race prepares you for the Olympic Games and the other races I’ve been running in previous years were almost too easy, and now you have the likes of Luke Boyes who can win at 1:44 mins leading, Peyton Craig at the back. That’s what we want in Australia. We have it in the 1500, now we have it in the 800.”

In the high jump, Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers has taken the view that while she is focused on winning gold she also wants to break the world high jump record of 2.09 metres set by Hungarian jumper Stefka Kostadinova in 1987.

Olyslagers has decided to abandon incremental height increases once she has a title or medal secured.

On Sunday she won the national title with her jump of 2.01 metres and immediately raised the bar to 2.06 metres, well above her own national record of 2.03 metres.

“You just need to put it up to the height that you desire to jump, don’t step stone it. So after 2.01 I went, well, I really believe 2.06 is in there,” Olyslagers said.

“So I just bypassed PBs because, ultimately, I want to jump high and you can’t jump high unless you’ve attempted [it].

“I thought, how is it possible that it’s been 37 years since a woman’s jumped over 2.09 metres? You know, how long is it? I recognised that when she was jumping 2.09, someone was jumping 2.07 right next to her. And so if you don’t have the luxury of that, you have to do big, bold things which most high jumpers don’t want to do.

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“So I’m just learning how to be outside my comfort zone and push myself to do things and not settle for anything less than my best. I don’t think I know what my best is and that excites me.

“I want to do a personal best [in Paris] and I want to do a big one and I recognise if I want to do that the emotions of medals and things can steal that.”

For Olyslagers’ rival, former world champion Eleanor Patterson, Adelaide provided “a step in the right direction” as she returns to being competition ready after a break last year.

“It wasn’t necessarily a pretty scorecard,” she said after clearing 1.95 metres. “I’m happy with the progress.”

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