MEREWETHER middle-distance runner Rose Davies has taken another step in her bid to make this year's Olympics in Tokyo after posting an qualifying time overseas on the weekend.
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Davies improved her personal best for the 5000 metres by almost 22 seconds when she stopped the clock at 15:08.48 in the Netherlands on Sunday (AEST).
The 21-year-old and race winner, fellow Australian athlete Isobel Batt-Doyle (15:04.10), fell under the Games standard of 15:10.00.
National record holder Jessica Hull (14:43.80) is the only other with an automatic qualifier in that event.
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Davies, who left home just a week prior, was "proud" of her efforts in Nijmegen.
"Going into this race I was feeling confident that I could improve on my previous best time and to run the Olympic standard was just the icing on the cake. I was stoked to see the result," Davies told Athletics Australia media.
"The last two laps were very tough; I was telling myself just to hold pace because I knew if I did that I was in the clear and I'm proud of myself that I was able to do that."
Davies, who finished fourth in this year's national 5000m final, had a prior mark of 15:30.15 from early 2020.
She will now turn her attention to chasing the 10,000m qualifier of 31:25.00 at the FBK Games in the Netherlands this weekend.
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