Ballarat sprinter Cooper Sherman will head to Europe during the next two weeks to compete in a series of races in order to earn himself enough points to secure an individual 400m run at the Paris Olympics.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Sherman finished second in the 400m Oceania final on Thursday afternoon behind fellow Australian Lake van Ratingen
The 20-year-old national 400m champion led until the final 20m of the race before being run down by van Raitingen, the 2023 national 400m winner.
Sherman's time of 45.97 seconds was the fourth time this season he has broken 46 seconds and leaves him right on the cusp of the world's top 48 which he will need to make in order to be to earn a run in Paris. Van Ratingen's time was 45.85 seconds.
The young Ballarat runner's recent slew of results, including a fourth placing at the Golden Grand Prix in Japan and a second in the Oceania Championships see him up to 54th in the rankings.
Over the coming two weeks, Sherman has been entered to run in Huesden, Belgium on June 15, Bilbao in Spain on June 18, Madrid also in Spain on June 21 and Braga in Portugal on June 22,
All Olympic qualifying events finish on June 30, so as many races are important over the coming weeks in order to earn ranking points to push inside the world's top 48.
It was initially hoped that Sherman's second placing in the Oceania Championship would give him a run in the 400m mixed relay, which still has two positions available for Paris, however the Australian team chose not to compete in that event in Fiji, which was to be run on Friday.
Meanwhile, javelin thrower, Ballarat's Kathryn Mitchell continues to build for her potential fourth Olympics and is preparing to compete in Europe in a couple of events in coming weeks. Mitchell has no competed since she registered no mark in China on April 27.
Mitchell is currently ranked number 17 in the world in the event, rated the third Australian behind world number two Mackenzie Little and world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber.
