17 July 2008
Australian 400m champion Joel Milburn smashed his personal best to clock 44.99 in winning the 400m in Luzern, Switzerland overnight. It was the first time the NSWIS scholarship holder has dipped under 45 seconds.
Milburn sliced 0.2 seconds off his previous best of 45.19 set earlier this year in his home town of Sydney. Milburn is just the seventh Australian to break the 45-second barrier.
After struggling in his first couple of meets in Europe, Milburn has found his groove of late under coach Penny Gillies and the support of international athlete liaison Maurie Plant. At the Rome Golden League last weekend, Milburn closed in on Beijing gold medal favourites Jeremy Wariner and La Shawn Merritt in the final stages, and used that new found confidence and experience to his advantage last night.
“I went out too slow in the first 200m in Rome so tonight I took it out harder, but I still finished as strongly as I did the other day,” Milburn told Athletics Australia.
“It was a tough race and I felt like I’d run 44 something when I finished but I still think I have some more to come. I’m still learning how to run the race.
“I will run in Stockholm and then head to Hong Kong. This is a big boast to my confidence and I can now see what might be possible, but I’m not getting too carried away. I will need to run faster than that to make the final (in Beijing).”