Lauren Boden wants Australia to know there’s another 400m hurdler in the country.
Boden has won five national titles and has already run a qualifying time for the London Olympics, but when the long hurdles are discussed, it’s Jana Pittman’s comeback that gets the attention.
She’s thrilled the dual world champion is on her way back from injury and hopes they can both be part of Australia’s Olympic team.
But Boden, 23, would like their friendship to extend into a rivalry that can refocus Australia’s attention.
“I’ve always looked forward to the day when Jana and I are both in really great shape and we can have an amazing race,” she said.
“Maybe even for the public’s sake, if we were to have a great race and I was to win, people might realise there are two world class 400m hurdlers in this country.”
The injury-plagued Pittman has won the handful of races they’ve had since she beat the then teenaged Boden in a heat at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the latest in Perth last year by 0.2 of a second.
While Boden attempts to confirm her Olympic place at this week’s selection trials in Melbourne, she’ll have to wait for her chance to topple Pittman who’s missing the event because of a foot injury.
Boden comes into the trials fresh from running 55.45 seconds in Sydney a fortnight ago to better the Olympic A-qualifying time of 55.50.
Another A-qualifying time in Melbourne on Saturday night will book her ticket to her first Olympics.
The Canberra athlete reached the semi-finals of the world championships last year and aims to make the Olympic final this year, but Boden is under no illusions of where she stands internationally.
Her personal best of 55.25, which she set in 2010, is nearly three seconds behind the time American Lashinda Demus ran to win the 2011 world title and was bettered by 15 women last year.
“Obviously you go to the Olympics to win. But when I say I want to make the final, I’m not selling myself short and not lacking in self confidence, it’s just about being realistic,” she said.
“The girls that are running the fastest times in the world in the 400 hurdles are running faster than my flat 400 pb. That’s just the way it is.”
But it’s not going to stop her pursuing her goal.
“I think I’m capable of running in the 54.5 range and if you’re doing that at an Olympics, you’re probably going to make the final,” she said.
