Teenage star Hollingsworth posts Olympic 800m time

Teen sensation Claudia Hollingsworth has lit up the Canberra Track Classic, smashing her 800m personal best and bettering the Olympic qualifying standard for the first time.

Shaving a full second off her personal best time, the 18-year-old finished in one minute 58.81 seconds on Saturday, comfortably going below the Olympic mark by nearly half a second.

Hollingsworth's time makes her the third-fastest Australian woman ever over 800m, behind fellow Olympic aspirants Abbey Caldwell and Catriona Bisset.

Tokyo Games competitor Bendere Oboya gave training partner Hollingsworth a genuine scare as she stuck right on her heels into the straight while posting her own Olympic benchmark.

Remarkably, Oboya stripped nearly three seconds off her personal best and broke the two-minute mark for the first time at 1:59.01.

Australia now has four competitors under the 800m qualifier, the duo joining Caldwell and Bisset.

April’s national championships will play a huge part in shaping the three-athlete team for the Paris Games.

Hollingsworth was adamant she wasn’t expecting such a quick time in Canberra, but certainly wasn’t complaining about having hit the mark.

“I've been training pretty hard, so it's nice to see that paying off, but definitely not at all (did I expect to run the Olympic time),” she said.

“It's just really exciting to see I've still got so much time in the season to see what we can do.

“It's obviously everyone's dream for this Australian season to get it ticked off ... and for it to happen so early.

“I went in quite relaxed and just thought on emotions it was going to be a fast pace.

"(It was) an exciting time hearing I'd run the qualifying time over the speaker.”

In other events, Torrie Lewis took out the women’s 100m but couldn’t get near her Australian record of 11.10 seconds, posting a time of 11.31.

She is also looking to shave 0.03 seconds off her personal best to run an Olympic standard time.

“It wasn't the time I wanted, but you come to these things to win the race, and I won the race so I'm happy with that,” Lewis said.

“I'm gaining confidence in all of my wins ... every classic I've done except for Melbourne I've won, and it just gives me a lot of confidence.”

Josh Azzopardi won the men's 100m in 10.53 seconds, but needed a late burst to hold off Sierra Leone's Ismail Kamara.

Australian-born Frenchman Sasha Zhoya won the men’s 100m hurdles, but wasn’t satisfied with his time of 13.50 seconds.

Two-time Australian champion Liz Clay continued her strong form, winning the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.09 seconds.

Canada’s Michelle Harrison (13.17) and Australian Danielle Shaw (13.21) completed the podium.

Teenager Peyton Craig rounded out the meet by winning the men’s 800m, needing to dig deep to see off Luke Boyes, who posted a personal-best time.

Australian under-20 record-holder Craig ran one minute 45.91 seconds, more than a second outside the Olympic mark.

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store