Joel Milburn - 400m Men's 2008 Beijing Olympian

Olympic News

18 August 2008 - Beijing

Joel Milburn clocked 44.80 seconds to finish second in his heat, eclipsing his previous benchmark of 44.99.

Joel said he knew he had a good run in him on the back of a successful European season.

"That's a personal best for me, so I'm happy. It's just really good to come out here, it's a really great atmosphere."

Joel was sure to shake everyone's hand before the race, a gesture with a dual purpose.

"I try to be a good sport at these big meets (and) I make sure everyone knows I'm here," he said

19 August 2008 - Beijing

Australians Joel Milburn and Sean Wroe were eliminated in the semi-finals of the men's 400m at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday night.

Milburn went close to becoming the first Australian to make an Olympic 400m decider since Darren Clark in Seoul 20 years ago, finishing third in his semi in 45.06 seconds with the top two advancing automatically.

Had Milburn been able to repeat his scorching first-round time of 44.80 from yesterday morning, he would have made it through to Thursday's gold-medal race.

In hot and humid conditions, Wroe struggled in the third semi, clocking 45.56 to finish seventh.

Both Australian runners pushed hard early and struggled to hang on down the home straight.

"I laid it all out on the track. I'm disappointed I didn't make the final but I gave it everything," Milburn said.

"I was in a perfect position, but the early part of the race took it out of me. I gave my best shot. I was trying to hold on but couldn't. I wanted to make my family and the country proud and I think I did that. "

American LaShawn Merritt (44.12) and his countryman, defending Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner (44.15), were the fastest qualifiers.

(This excerpt courtesy of AAP and AOC 2008)

22 August 2008 - Beijing

Men's 4x400m Relay Round 1 - Heat 1 (22:10 EST)

Clinton Hill, Joel Milburn, Mark Ormrod & John Steffensen ran a 4th in this heat, being narrowly defeated by the Belgian, Russian & US teams. This ultimately qualified them to progress to the round final.

23 August 2008 - Beijing

Men's 4x400m Relay Final (23:05 EST)

With a team starting order of Joel Milburn, Sean Wroe, Clinton Hill, & John Steffensen, the Australian team eventually placed 6th overall, in a creditable time of 3:00:02 (ecllipsing their 4th place Heat 1 time of 3:00:68)

Joel Milburn - Biography

Education

BA Psychology - Macquarie University NSW

Career Highlights

Running 45.19 at the NSW championships.

An Olympic A qualifying standard ranking me 11th All-time Australian.

Winning a silver medal at the World University Games.

Recent Performances

1st 400m (44.99) - Grand Prix Meet (Lucerne, Switzerland)

7th 400m (45.49) - 2008 World Tour (Stockholm, Sweden)

1st 400m (45.90) - National Champs (Brisbane, Australia)

1st 400m (46.19) - 2008 NSW Champs (Sydney, Australia)

1st 400m (46.19) - 2008 Canberra Track Classic (Canberra, Australia)

1st 400m (46.18) - 2008 Sydney Track Classic (Sydney, Australia)

Interesting Facts

Joel had a breakthrough 2007/08 domestic season winning several races including the National Championship and the NSW Championships in a PB of 45.19s.

He competed at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in March as part of the 4x400m relay.

At the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok he teamed with Dylan Grant, Mark Ormrod, Tristan Thomas and Sean Wroe to win silver in the 4x400m relay.

Joel is currently completing a psychology degree at Macquarie University.