3 minute read

Australian athletics stars Joseph Deng, Peter Bol and Henry Frayne have all produced impressive weekend performances in Europe.

Former national record holder Joseph Deng has effectively locked in his spot on the Australian teams for the upcoming world championships and Commonwealth Games with a flying 800m run in France.

Deng, 23, clocked one minute 44.69 seconds to finish second at a meet in Lyon.

The only other Australian to have bettered the tough automatic qualifying standard of 1:45.20 is Deng's training partner Peter Bol, who was an oustanding fourth last year at the Tokyo Olympics.

Bol was also in impressive form in Lyon on Saturday, producing a surging final lap to win the 1500m in 3:35.89.

Across the border in Switzerland, 2018 Commonwealth Games long jump silver medallist Henry Frayne wound back the clock with his best performance in three years.

Frayne's jump of 8.10m in Geneva was 10cm shy of the automatic qualifying mark, but is still likely to be sufficent to get him included in the squads for the world titles in Eugene, Oregon and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Frayne, 32, has been dogged by a variety of injuries through the years, but at his best is a genuine world-class performer, as shown by his silver medals at the 2012 world indoors and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

"Form is temporary - class is permanent," tweeted Frayn'e long-time coach Gary Bourne.

Fellow Australian Amy Cashin set a personal best of 9:27.91 in Portland to better the women's 3000m steeplechase qualifying mark for the back-to-back major meets in July and August.

The qualifying period for the world titles ends on June 26.