Key Points
- Australian Peter Bol has starred at the Paris Diamond League meet with another record-breaking 800m run
- The Australian runner was outpaced for victory by an inspired but controversial finish from Benjamin Rober
Peter Bol, whose efforts in the 800m at the Olympics sent Australia into raptures, has lowered the Australian record at the event for the third time.
Bol cantered into the finals of the two-lap event in Tokyo but just missed out on a medal coming home in fourth.
Scores of people, many of them young children, packed into Bol's house in Perth to watch the race with the runner saying he was “grateful and thankful to everyone in Australia”, adding that the Sudanese community "has inspired the whole nation, and that's the goal".
Speaking after the run in Paris, he said: "I wanted to run 1:43 and give (coach) Justin an early birthday present for tomorrow. Came a bit short but stoked with the PB [personal best] and national record," said Bol, who bettered his own Oceania mark of 1:44.11 set at the Olympics.
When he set the record the last year, SBS News travelled to Bol's house in Perth, where his family and friends watched him live.
"He is a champion," Bol's father, Abdalla Mador Bol said last year.
"Win or lose, he already made history. We’re proud of him," his cousin Abra Bol added.
This time, Bol said his performance was no surprise, putting it down to his focus on training.
"It was no surprise at all. We've built this new level of confidence and when training is going well there's no reason why we can't run those fast times and be competitive on the world stage," Bol said.
"Seeing [training partner and former Australian record-holder] Joseph [Deng] run the [world championship] standard last week was awesome and running a 1,500m PB last week was just part of training.
"We've just been building strength and endurance. The difference is though since Joseph ran his qualifier last week the energy has been high and that's a major benefit in itself."
"In the last 200m, I was burnt," Bol said.
"I said to myself, 'It's gonna be hard to finish'. Then something happened in the last 50 metres - the second wind.
"It's difficult to explain but it proves that you cannot give up, everything can happen.
"It's my first victory on Diamond League - and it happens in Paris. The pressure was strong with this crowd, but we need to get used to that before Paris 2024 Olympics."
Bol said he wasn't too upset he couldn't quite break the magic 1:44 mark, convinced "we can definitely go 1:43" and that he's well-primed to challenge for a medal at both the world championships and Commonwealth Games.
"My goal for both championships is to medal. Keep my head up, keep ticking off sessions and competing strong against any field. I believe medals are within reach," added Bol, who's now joint-top of the Diamond League 800m standings with Canadian Marco Arop.
Australia's Olympic high jump silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers - formerly McDermott, before her recent marriage - cleared 1.95m but it was only enough for joint-third as she was eclipsed by Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who jumped a 2022 world-best of 2.01m.
Kelsey-Lee Barber, a bronze medallist from Tokyo, was fifth in the javelin (60.60 metres), finishing one place behind her Aussie teammate Mackenzie Little (61.23m).
The international star of the night at the Stade Charlety was Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who equalled her world-leading time of the year in the 100m in 10.67 seconds and looked in fine form to go for a 10th world championship gold in the United States next month.
