{"id":384940,"date":"2024-04-15T05:42:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T05:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384940"},"modified":"2024-04-15T08:03:49","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T08:03:49","slug":"paris-bound-bols-uplifting-reveal-after-year-from-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384940","title":{"rendered":"Paris-bound Bol's uplifting reveal after year from hell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adelaide:<\/strong> Australian running champion\ufeff Peter Bol<\/a> has declared he's "happy, healthy and back on track" after featuring at the national athletics<\/a> championships for the first time since 2022, having missed last year's titles amid the doping shambles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bol\ufeff came up short by 0.33 of a second in the men's 800m final on Sunday, losing to Blue Mountains 20-year-old Luke Boyes in a middle-distance classic.<\/p>\n

The Olympic<\/a> finalist had dug himself out of a terrible position tactically\ufeff with a lap remaining and managed to hit the lead on the home straight, before Boyes snatched the lead back to win his first senior national title.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie athletics stars picked for Paris as 68-year hope builds\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'On another planet': Sticky goes nuclear in Hasler spray<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Tiger takes home unwanted new record from Masters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bol was selected for his third Olympic appearance following the race, as the first lot of Australian track and field athletes were picked for the Paris Games in a reveal at Adelaide's SA Athletics Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps of greater significance, given Bol's year from hell in 2023, the 30-year-old was in high spirits throughout the championships and after the race. His heartening smile was back and he was scribbling his signature for kids.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

He's had a remarkable turnaround mentally since bombing out in the heats of last year's world championships in Budapest<\/a>, where he stormed off the track and through the mixed zone, snubbing media. He had taken to the world championships exhausted by the doping saga, in which he was exonerated after being falsely accused of using the blood-boosting EPO<\/a>.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I really wanted to do it this year [the national championships]," a relaxed and cheerful Bol told Wide World of Sports at the track.<\/p>\n

"I was carrying an injury this year but I said to my team, 'I need to get back there, I want to get back competing in Australia\ufeff'.<\/p>\n

"I've had so much support out here. It felt really good [being at the national titles], and to see the kids come back and taking photos brought back good memories … I'm now happy, healthy and back on track.<\/p>\n

"It's what I missed last year. Missing the Australian season was pretty tough because … it's home and it's where we want to race."<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Boyes won the final in a personal best of 1:44.73,\ufeff pipping Bol (1:45.06) and 18-year-old Queenslander Peyton Craig<\/a> (1:45.76).<\/p>\n

Bol had only raced once this season ahead of the national championships, over 800m at the Albie Thomas Mile in Bankstown in March<\/a>, having been set back by injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"Physically I was probably in a pretty good shape [in Budapest], but mentally I was probably not in the best shape," Bol admitted.<\/p>\n

\"Exonerated<\/p>\n

"I knew I needed to work on it, as well. I knew I needed to be in Budapest to see it\ufeff because Paris<\/a> is going to come … I'm glad I did Budapest, I'm glad I got that out of the way.<\/p>\n

"I'm in a good headspace now. I'm probably better mentally than I am physically and it showed in the race [in Adelaide]."<\/p>\n

Asked if he was capable of becoming a 1:43 runner this year, the former national record holder was emphatic.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Oh, 100 per cent, and not just once; I'm capable of running it a few times," said Bol, whose personal best is 1:44.00.<\/p>\n

In a final that wasn't blisteringly quick, the Tokyo 2020 gold medal was won in 1:45.06. Bol finished fourth in 1:45.92.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adelaide: Australian running champion\ufeff Peter Bol has declared he's "happy, healthy and back on track" after featuring at the national athletics championships for the first […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384948,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384940\/revisions\/384948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/384943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}