WA officials’ error scuppers massive Hale PB

ATHLETICS JACK Hale might have been the fourth-fastest Australian man over 100m in history but for a bad blunder by West Australian athletics officials.

The teen sprint star ran a phenomenal time in his 100m sprint preliminary at the WA state championships on Friday night, only to finish and realise the all-important photo-finish timing equipment had not worked and the wind gauge had not started.

According to the 19-yearold’s camp, handheld timing indicated he had clocked about the equivalent of 10.10 seconds, which would have been the fastest time by an Australian in nearly 11 years. It would also have elevated him to fourth on the all-time list.

Hale ran 10.10 last weekend at the Perth Track Classic but an illegal tailwind of 2.1 meant the time could not count as an official Commonwealth Games A qualifier of 10.15 or under.

Wind was unlikely to have been an issue on Friday.

Hale’s quickest official time is 10.21, achieved in 2016 in Germany.

It’s understood Hale’s coach Adam Larcom is furious about the mistake, which his manager Richard Welsh said was not good enough.

“It’s disappointing Jack has gone all the way to Perth in great condition – he’s in fantastic shape – and he’s put a performance down that wasn’t able to be measured,” he said.

Welsh said Athletics WA had filmed the race and hoped to send it to Athletics Australia so officials could assess whether it was accurate enough to stand as a Gold Coast qualifier.

IT’S DISAPPOINTING JACK HAS GONE ALL THE WAY TO PERTH IN GREAT CONDITION – HE’S IN FANTASTIC SHAPE – AND HE’S PUT A PERFORMANCE DOWN THAT WASN’T ABLE TO BE MEASURED