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The quartet smashed the previous championship record with a run of 44.93 seconds, finishing nearly two seconds clear of the rest of the field.<\/p>\n
She also set a new personal best of 11.60 seconds during the season.<\/p>\n
The records, medal wins and PBs were an added delight to the sheer joy of being able to compete at her best in the wake of an injury-plagued 2024\u201325 season.<\/p>\n
“The previous season I had a bit of injury, but this season I was pretty injury-free and got to go to all the track meets I was aiming for,” Crowe said.<\/p>\n
“I had a bit of hamstring awareness and a bit of tendinopathy, but it wasn’t bad.<\/p>\n
“Over time it’s gone away which is exactly what I wanted.”<\/p>\n
Among the highlights, the opportunity to race against American sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson in the final at Stawell proved hard to top.<\/p>\n
“To get to run against Sha’Carri was pretty cool and to make back-to-back finals was pretty amazing,” said Crowe, whose chances in the final took a blow when she was penalised one metre for breaking.<\/p>\n
“Getting second at nationals when I was not expecting to get on the podium was great to do.<\/p>\n
“And now being named in the Australian team has been a dream come true.”<\/p>\n
Crowe said her goals at the world under-20 championships would simply be getting the best out of herself and to help the team.<\/p>\n
“I just don’t want to let the team down,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I guess there will be a lot of practice on (baton) changes and being a team player, and if I am in the team, making sure I don’t make mistakes and just try my best.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully we can get to a final, and getting to the podium would be another goal.”<\/p>\n
Crowe was rapt to see Estlick, who finished fourth in the 100m under-20 final at the Australian Athletics Junior Championships in Brisbane (won by Zara Hagan), secure her ticket to the worlds in Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n
“It’s good to be able to compete against each other and push each other,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Knowing another person who is going to the US is going to feel like family.”<\/p>\n
Ever-humble and grateful, Crowe \u2013 a Loreto College student \u2013 praised the support of her junior coach Tony Martin and current mentor Peter O’Dwyer for helping her realise her Australian dream.<\/p>\n
“And obviously my family, Mum and Dad. They get me through a lot,” she said.<\/p>\n
On top of her Australian team honour, Crowe was recently awarded the David Stevens Junior Athlete of the Year by the Sportsmen’s Association of Australia \u2013 Ballarat Branch.<\/p>\n
The World Athletics Under-20 Championships run from 5\u20139 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GRACE Crowe has always dreamed of representing Australia on the world athletics stage. But even in the midst of a stellar 2025-26 season \u2013 which ended in April \u2013 the runner had the feeling her chance would come later rather than sooner. The 17-year-old from Ballarat was partially right in that her international debut in […]<\/p>\n