CARCOAR athlete Kurt Fearnley fired the first salvo in his head-to-head battle with English arch-rival David Weir after qualifying fastest for the final of the T54 1500-metre race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to be held early tomorrow.
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Racing on Tuesday night, Fearnley avoided some heavy contact among the other competitors in his heat as he picked up a well-earned win.
He managed to hold off impressive Canadian Alex Dupont, crossing the line in three minutes, 19.65 seconds – 0.49s ahead of the 28-year-old Dupont.
It is familiar territory for Fearnley, who is trying to defend the title he won at Delhi four years ago.
Weir, on the other hand, was making his Commonwealth Games debut, and was competing at his first major meet since he dominated the 2012 London Olympics.
His long lay-off was evident as he raced in the other heat, recording a time almost nine seconds slower than Fearnley’s, though it was enough to win his heat.
Weir wasn’t even the top-ranked English-man to qualify, as William Smith finished third to Fearnley in 3:24.80.
Neither of the two heavyweights were at their top, finishing well off their personal bests, both of which are well below the three-minute mark.
Two other Australians, Richard Colman and Richard Nicholson, also find themselves in the 10-man final.
Having battled illness in the weeks leading up to the Games, Fearnley was happy enough with what he produced.
“I am in better nick than I was as I had four or five days of illness. I barely had a heartbeat. It just rocked me. I did absolutely nothing for five days,” he said, before posting to his Twitter account.
“Good first roll. Bit of carnage, pleased to duck it and have a crack at the medals on Thursday. Thanks for the messages!”
Weir, who took a year off after London and, like Fearnley, bypassed the World Championships in Lyon last year, has only raced at minor meetings in the build-up to Glasgow.
Having never tasted the Commonwealth Games before, he was determined to at least compete at one edition before making a decision on his long-term racing future.
“This is full on, this is serious for me. I’ve always wanted to race in the Commonwealth Games and I’ve always wanted to race for England. I still think this is a major event,” he told The Telegraph in the build-up to Tuesday’s heats.
“It was hard to retire after 2012 because if I would have retired and not done the Commonwealth Games it would have grated on me.
“I would have been disappointed that I hadn’t represented England and tried to win a medal for my country. It’s just that patriotic side in me. I couldn’t retire. So I had to draw up a two-year plan.”
He realises that the former CSU student will be his biggest rival, but also acknowledged the growing diversity of the sport which saw a number of athletes from Africa entered.
Three of them – Felix Acheampong (Ghana), Sebastien Ravet (Mauritius) and Samuel Ngige (Kenya) have all progressed to tonight’s final.
“I know that Kurt will come over. We’ll have the Australians, the Canadians and there’ll be a few African countries as well, I’m sure. I don’t know what level they’ll be at, but it’s nice to see some new countries competing,” Weir said during.
The final of the race will be held at 4.35am Australian time tomorrow morning.
