Riseley takes distance title

By Marc McGowan
JEFF Riseley won his first national title in a career-defining performance at the Australian Athletics Championships on Saturday night.
Riseley, 22, entered last week’s Brisbane-based competition with the pressure of two previous failed national championship campaigns.
But the former Narre Warren little athlete dominated his 1500m rivals on the weekend, recording a personal best of 3:35.71 to finish almost two seconds ahead of New South Welshman Jeremy Roff.
Riseley’s time was a world championships A-standard qualifier and a meet record, and he became the second fastest Australian on home soil.
“It was a good way to finish off the season,” he said.
“It takes all the pressure off now. If I hadn’t have run the time at nationals then we probably wouldn’t have cared about world champs.
“Now we can basically just race the races we want and get ready for the world champs.”
Riseley joins 38 other athletes in the Australian squad for the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, from 15 to 23 August.
The Harkaway resident was particularly pleased to have booked a spot on his own terms after requiring discretionary selection at the Olympic Games and last world championships.
Riseley is training twice daily in Broadbeach, Queensland, ahead of hernia surgery in Melbourne on Friday.
He is expecting around a two-week recovery period from the surgery before turning his attention to a European assault in mid-June.
“(Manager) Nic (Bideau) has a strong belief in me and we believe I have a lot more in me than 3:35.7,” Riseley said.
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