Time to drop “Next”? | Column by Lyn Johnson

For the past few years, Claudia Hollingsworth has been the next big thing in Australian women’s middle distance racing. And given her recent exploits – destroying a strong field to win the 3000m national title in Hobart on February 28, and running the fastest 1500m by an Australian woman in Australia five days later at Box Hill – is it time to dispense with the qualifier and simply declare it? the Something big?

“It’s too early to tell,” this observer judged, but the fact that this question can even be asked speaks volumes. First of all, we are currently enjoying the strongest era in the history of Australian women’s middle distance racing with fierce competition for championship places in the 800 and 1500 metres. Secondly, the two main stars of this era – Linden Hall and Jess Hall – have yet to play a significant role in the home season. Hall has raced only once over 5,000 metres, and has never raced at all.

However, the way Hollingsworth destroyed her opponents in windy conditions on the Hobart Domain track to win the national title caught our attention. Still in contention for the bell are Abby Caldwell, Georgia Griffiths, Rose Davies, Moody Skyring and Naomi Tanaka, who reached the 5000m world championship final in Japan. 50 meters from Hollingsworth’s move with 300 meters remaining, they were all running for second.

Hollingsworth ran about 60 seconds on her final lap, racing to the win with a time of 8:37.42. Behind her were Caldwell (8:39.06), Griffith (8:40.71), Davies (8:41.61), Skyring (8:45.00) and Tanaka (8:49.77) – a well-established group that was reduced to the elimination of the secondary placings.

The Hobart Domain Trail is located on a hill, exposing it to the winds off the nearby River Derwent. When that wind blows through the turn, it can be heaven for a 200 runner, even if the official straight-line wind reading indicates a headwind. But they can produce stormy conditions for cyclic events.

Hollingsworth ran comfortably in the middle of the leading pack for most of the race, unnoticed for 2700 metres, and unstoppable in the final 300 metres. If the statistics on the World Athletics website are correct, this is only the second time over this distance in her career. Previously, she had won the Ondieki U20 3000 at the 2023 Zatopek meeting, again with an unanswerable final lap. Then she ran 9:29.13.

The 1500m at Box Hill was a completely different matter. Whereas Hollingsworth could have sat unnoticed in the 3000m with no more expectations placed on her than she did, she was now a pea in a pod (second in the race would finish some 24 seconds 150m behind her). She had help for about 800 meters from teammate Bendere Oboya and for the last 700 meters from the speed lights (set at 4:01).

However, one of Hollingsworth’s assets is her apparent comfort even at a fast pace. She looked strong and comfortable the whole way through the buzzer at 2:56-57. Her final 400m was just as fast as it was in Hobart, where she reached the finish in 3:58.09. She broke Linden Hall’s record of 3:59.67 set almost five years ago to become the first Australian woman to break the four-minute record in 2021.

Hall’s performance became a national record. Hollingsworth replaced it as the fastest run by an Australian on home soil.

After the race in Hobart, Claudia Hollingsworth commented that her performance reinforced her belief in her potential over the 1500 metres. Clearly, we can all share this confidence now. Although there wasn’t any competitive pressure on her at Box Hill, it seemed as if there was more in the tank. With her first four minutes, she moved into third place on the all-time list, ahead of Griffith, Sarah Billings and Caldwell among the six who topped four minutes.

First, Hollingsworth should join the other five in making more than one count in under four minutes. Hull has 19, Hall 15, Griffith five, Billings and Caldwell two each. After that, it’s a matter of what additional steps they can achieve. Hull holds the national record with a time of 3:50.83; The best in the hall is 3:56.33.

Back where we started, Hollingsworth has been the next big thing for some time. She could easily be skating on her silver medal in the 800m at the World Under 20m Championships two years ago, having achieved accomplishments at senior level while still in her early years. She won the national title at 800 meters in 2024 after already finishing second behind Catriona Bisset in 2021 and 2022 and Caldwell last year. She won the mile last year and now has a 3000 national title to her name.

Versatility could be an asset this year. There are no specific qualifying criteria for the Commonwealth Games, but Australia has set its own criteria which provides a guaranteed nomination to national champions provided they achieve them. As in the Olympics and World Championships, there is a limit of three per country per individual event, but there is also a maximum on overall team size which is likely to be a bigger issue.

The next big thing, the big thing now or whatever it is, Claudia Hollingsworth is going to be an important player in how things play out.