DENG FEVER AS DREAM NEARS
OUR LATEST TRACK STAR’S BIG CHANCE:
Joseph Deng story was already a good one but add in the fact that he tore his quad three weeks ago, and the teenager’s appearance in the 800m final becomes even more extraordinary.
Deng was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after his mother left South Sudan to get away from a war. He was aged six when his family moved to Australia, settling in Toowoomba.
A move to Melbourne in January last year to be coached by Justin Rinaldi accelerated his development, with his amazing journey finding its way to tomorrow night’s final after a brilliant heat run.
“He tore his quad three weeks ago at Box Hill (in Victoria) in a session that actually wasn’t that hard,” Rinaldi said.
“He obviously couldn’t run for while, he then went to the Australian camp where all the team doctors worked on him and we didn’t put the spikes on again until five days ago.”
Those dramas were cast aside by the 19-year-old when he ran an inspired heat to make it to the final as one of the two fastest qualifiers.
National champion Luke Mathews also looked impressive, finishing second behind defending champion Nigel Amos to automatically go through to the final.
Deng ran an excellent tactical race and was only grabbed over the last couple of metres, finishing third in 1:45.72, just .01 seconds outside his personal best.
It was easily the fastest heat of the morning, which meant the rising star of Australia’s track and field team was through to his first major championship final.
“I was happy with that,” Deng said. “I hope (the final) is fast because I like fast races.”
Deng was at the centre of a selection controversy when he was picked as Australia’s discretionary third 800m runner ahead of three-time Olympian Jeff Riseley. He had failed to make the final of the selection
I HOPE (THE FINAL) IS FAST BECAUSE I LIKE FAST RACES JOSEPH DENG
trials in February and instead ran in the B-race, producing the fastest time of the weekend. The selectors decided to go with a hunch based on potential rather than the experience of Riseley.
Mathews, 22, showed his class in the heats, easing down over the final 50m to run 1:46.53.
“I knew it was going to be pretty quick,” he said. “I just sat on him (Amos) and I heard the crowd on that top bend and I thought ‘holy crap’. Then down the straight I saw I was five metres clear so I just enjoyed the last 50 metres and finished in lane three or four, lapping it up with the crowd.”