Cam Myers in 'terrible' mid-race incident as Aussies stun athletics world in Diamond League

Aussie athletics sensation Cam Myers had his 1500m race ruined at the Diamond League meeting in London on Saturday night after a rival runner's fall brought him down. But Jess Hull and Rose Davies left fans gobsmacked as they smashed their own national and Oceania records.

The 19-year-old Myers hasn't been garnering as much attention as fellow Aussie teenager Gout Gout, but his feats over the last few months have been just as impressive. Athletics fans were eagerly-anticipating his run in London on Saturday night, but were left sorely disappointed after a terrible mishap. 

Cameron Myers clipped heels with George Mills and brought them both down. Image: Wanda Diamond League

The Canberran looked ready to take the next step as he moved into contention on the final lap of the metric mile. Sitting in fourth place, Myers was about to make his move when he clipped the heel of British runner George Mills in front of him, bringing his rival down. Myers appeared to be trying to switch from the inside of Mills to the outside, and accidentally tripped him up.

George Mills' fall brought down Cameron Myers and Robert Farken as well. Image: Wanda Diamond League

Mills' fall also brought Myers and Robert Farken down, and they had to limp to the line well behind the rest of the pack. Myers has enjoyed a stunning year in the senior ranks having finished runner-up in Oslo's Dream Mile, but had to settle for 13th place on Saturday in 4:24.03.

The Aussie was left to wonder what might have been as another teenage superstar - Kenya's Phanuel Koech - won in 3:28.92. It was the fastest time ever seen in the UK.

While some thought Myers was unlucky, track and field coach Luke Parkinson said the Aussie only had himself to blame for a tactical blunder. "Why did Cam Myers go to the inside just before the final bend when he was picking off runners with every stride?" he wrote on social media. 

"He clipped Mills' heels and ultimately ruined the race for himself and at least 3 other men. Hugging the rail on every bend is for time trials - back yourself - pass on the outside…there are 7 lanes with no traffic in them."

Thankfully it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Aussies, with Jess Hull smashing her own Australian and Oceanian mile records, and Rose Davies obliterating her own national and Oceanian 5000m marks. Hull and high-jumper Eleanor Patterson grabbed runners-up spots at the London Stadium, while Davies finished third.

Hull lowered her own Oceanian mark to 4:13.68 as former double world champ Gudaf Tsegay set a new Ethiopian national record in 4min 11.88sec. "I had a lot of distractions, but was just trying to zone into the leader in the second half, but it was a solid run," said Hull.

"Coming in, we were thinking I could run a national record, and I did. I would have liked to have been a little closer to 4:10, but I felt very strong for 4:13. A lot of records fell today, so it was a pretty special to be a part of that race."

Gudaf Tsegay and Jessica Hull at the Diamond League meet in London. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Davies clocked 14:31.45 for third behind the Ethiopian duo of Medina Eisa (14:30.57) and Fantaye Belayneh (14:30.90). But the Newcastle product eclipsed her previous national mark of 14:40.83 - set in China in April - by more than nine seconds.

Georgia Griffith finished fifth in a huge new personal best of 14:32.82 to also smash the former record. "I was ready for a big race and felt like I responded to the challenge today," said Davies. "My expectations were a PB (personal best) and I have achieved that so I am really pleased."

Patterson and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh both had an off-day in the high jump, allowing Briton Morgan Lake to win with a 1.96m leap. "I am very honoured to be known as 'Miss Consistent' as it reflects my aim to be consistently jumping well," said Patterson. "Today doesn't quite match up to it - but if 1.93 is a bad day and second I can't be too mad about it."

with AAP

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/cam-myers-in-terrible-mid-race-incident-as-aussies-stun-athletics-world-in-diamond-league-221930075.html

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