In a bizarre but thrilling race at Melbourne's Lakeside Stadium\ufeff resembling a fartlek session, Ryan snared the win ahead of NSW duo Holly Campbell (32:54.94) and Rose Davies (32:55.82).<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> Teen shocks Aus Open field with rare albatross<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> F1 musical chairs complete after Williams signing<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Kyrgios thanks great for 'spotting signs' of harm<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "I'm ecstatic to pull it off," said Ryan, who had flown back from her training base in the US city of Baltimore.<\/p>\n "My grandma's not doing too well so this one's for her. So emotional. I came back for her and to actually pull off the race, as well, is a win-win. I have my family out here and we've all been back and forth visiting my grandma at the aged care. I'm just glad to pull it off for her. Honestly, it's not about me; it's about her."<\/p>\n Ryan shook up the race when she made a move with 16 laps to go, quickly opening a lead of about 10 metres as the field strung out.<\/p>\n But within five laps she had the company of four others as, by the elite standards of those in the field, the race slowed to a dawdle. After knocking out five 74-second laps in a row, a tactical battle came about as the star athletes ambled through a 91-second lap with 11 laps remaining.<\/p>\n "This is cat and mouse, this has got strange now\ufeff, it is interesting," Brady Threlfall said in commentary.<\/p>\n Searching for her third Australian 10,000m title, Davies hit the lead with eight laps remaining, but Ryan and Campbell went with her as a three-way race ensued.<\/p>\n Ryan then streaked away from her rivals over a jostling final lap, throwing out her arms and shouting in triumph as she tore down the home stretch. The 25-year-old, who contested the 5000m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August,\ufeff blazed through the final lap in 66 seconds. She swerved across multiple lanes while celebrating the feel-good win.<\/p>\n "Put the afterburners on!" Threlfall quipped.<\/p>\n "I loved the celebration … Seeing that kind of emotion on her face was amazing. That's the biggest win of her career and you could tell it meant a lot."<\/p>\n Ryan unpacked the turbulent race.\ufeff<\/p>\n "Honestly, I got tripped so many times and I was just like, 'I'm just going to go for it'. I went for it and I kept getting tripped so I was just like, 'I'm going to slow it back down again and just race the race as it is', and it panned out that way," Ryan said.<\/p>\n "I kind of didn't know where my speed was at, but I was just going to give it all for my grandma and my family."<\/p>\n The men's 10,000m race was won by Irishman Andrew Coscoran, but Rayner edged Queenslander and fellow Olympian Patrick Tiernan for the Australian title. Coscoran crossed the finish line with a time of 27:56.37, with Rayner a smidgen behind in 27:57.87 and Tiernan coming home third in 28:00.78.<\/p>\n Saturday night also saw Western Australian Matthew Ramsden win the open men's 3000m race, stopping the clock at 8:00.20. He edged fellow Perth product Jesse Hunt (8:00.21) and Canberra's Cameron Myers (8:00.70), the 17-year-old prodigy gunning for Paris 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n The open women's 3000m race\ufeff was won by Melbourne's Maudie Skyring (8:55.39), with Ireland's Jodie McCann finishing second (9:00.82) and Victoria's Stella Radford (9:03.70) rounding out the podium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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