All eyes on Eleanor

LEONGATHA’S Eleanor Patterson begins her assault on the women’s high jump World Championship in Beijing from 11.35am this Thursday, August 27.
Thursday is the qualifying competition and if Eleanor can get through qualifying she’ll then compete in the final set down for 8.30pm this Saturday, August 29.
Eleanor, 19, the current Commonwealth Games Gold medalist, is tipped to make a positive impression at her world championships debut.
She built on her display in Glasgow when she matched her personal best of 1.96 metres earlier this year at the national junior championships in Sydney, a performance that has her ranked equal eighth in the world heading into Beijing.
Russian pair Anna Chicherova and Maria Kuchina, and Spain’s Ruth Beitia are the only women to have cleared two metres or higher this season and they remain the medal favourites at the world titles.
A podium finish would be an unrealistic expectation to be placed on the young shoulders of Patterson but Athletics Australia head coach Craig Hilliard is confident she has the potential to make the final.
“The women’s high jump is an event where at the top end they’re not going crazy,” he said.
“There’s a chunk of them around [1.98m] 98, 99, there’s a bunch of them sitting on 94, 95.
“So if she just steps up to the plate and does her thing there’s no reason why she couldn’t [make the final].”
Hilliard’s faith in Patterson is not misplaced, as she proved in Glasgow – and when she won gold at the 2013 world youth championships in Donetsk – that she is not overawed by competing on the international stage.
Coverage of the World Championships is not available through free to air television in Australia; if you have a Foxtel sports subscription or know a friend who has it you can watch Eleanor’s event on the Eurosport channel.

Eleanor Patterson: pictured after winning Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, Eleanor will compete in the Athletics World Championships in Beijing with the women’s high jump qualifying this Thursday.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Aug 25 2015. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry