Sydney University athlete Ian Dewhurst finished third in his heat of the 400m hurdles at the Carrara Athletics Track on the Gold Coast this morning but was tipped out of a berth in the Commonwealth Games final by .45sec.
With the top two placegetters in each of the three heats and the next two best times making it through to the final, Dewhurst finished just outside his personal best time of 49.80.
Kyron McMaster, of the British Virgin Islands, ran the fastest qualifying time of 48.78 in winning Heat 1 from Jamaica’s Andre Clarke (49.10) and Mozambique’s Kurt Couto (49.56).
Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde won Heat 2 in 49.14 to edge out England’s Jack Green (49.24) and Kenya’s Kipchumba Koech (49.28), while Kenya’s Nicholas Bett won Heat 3 in 49.24 from Jeffery Gibson of the Bahamas in 49.75 and Dewhurst in 49.84.
But the Australian was just outside the next two fastest times recorded by Nigeria’s Mohamed Alowonle, who finished fourth in Heat 1 in 49.49, and South Africa’s Constant Pretorius, who finished fourth in Heat 2 in 49.71.
Dewhurst had been hell bent on cracking the elusive 49sec barrier after winning the 2018 Australian Men’s 400m hurdles in Championships in 49.80. A long-time member of SUAC, Dewhurst has been the standard-bearer for the event in Australia since 2013 and has won three National Championships at seniors along with one Junior title back in 2008, plus a host of silver medals at both levels.
Buoyed by a tremendous start to 2017-18 season, where he has posted a personal best time for 200m and stamped his authority over a strong field in winning his season opening 400m hurdles in 49.83, he was hoping to make his mark on the Gold Coast.
