Montag makes a statement in record Adelaide win
With an Olympic silver medallist and a four-time world champion in her wake, Jemima Montag made a stunning Paris Olympics statement in Adelaide on Sunday.
Montag broke her own Oceania record when she strolled to her sixth consecutive Australian 20km walk title with a dominant performance in 1hr 27.09sec at the World
Athletics Racing Walking Tour Silver event.
An Olympic gold medal has been on Montag’s radar since she won silver at last year’s world championships in Budapest.
The Melburnian, who turns 26 on Thursday, charged away from an impressive international field that included Columbia’s Olympic silver medallist Lorena Arenas (1:27.25) and China’s four-time world champion (1:27.44).
“I really did have to lift today,” Montag said. “The two women behind me were silver and bronze in Tokyo, so it was a great opportunity.
“It’s not just a national championship anymore, it’s a silver label, high-quality meet.
“I was not expecting the move at 13.5km by my Colombian teammate,
“My brain told me to give up
Liu
Hong and let her go but in track and field you need to be flexible with your plan. I didn’t want to let her get too far ahead and regret it later.”
Returning to the site of her first Australian record of 1:27.27 in 2022, the shift in mindset from Montag demonstrated her increased focus on racing rather than watching the clock.
“I was really trying to think one lap at a time,” Montag said. “I couldn’t even really see the clock, which thing.
“Two years ago when I broke the national record for the first time, all I thought about was the time, which made me really tense and uptight.”
The Australian silver and bronze medals went to Rebecca Henderson (1:30.40) and Olivia Sandery (1:30.52), while Kyle Swan raced to the Australian men’s title in 1:19.52 ahead of Rhydian Cowley (1:21.01). is a really good