Lauren Ryan breaks 21-year record as Aussie athletics history made before Olympics

Aussie athletics sensation Lauren Ryan has broken a long-standing record only months out from the Paris Olympics, while Jack Rayner has also produced his best ever performance. Ryan smashed the national record for the 10,000 metre event in California having obliterated her own personal record with a time of 30:35.66.

Ryan was already the national champion but is now the national record holder having eclipsed Benita Willis' 2003 record of 30:37.68. Incredibly, Ryan was able to take 94 seconds off her own personal best to finish third in the event. With the remarkable run, the 26-year-old has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and put her rivals on notice.

She has become the first Australian athlete to finish better than the 30:40.00 qualifying time for the Paris Olympics. "To be a part of the Australian Olympic team is something that I have dreamed about, and now that I know that I won the trial and have the standard, hopefully that's guaranteeing me selection for the team in the 10K," Ryan said after qualification.

"Now it's time to go for the 5K. I have had experience with it at World Juniors and I feel like for me now at that level it's about competing and racing. It just takes a couple of years to grasp that." Ryan will turn her attention to the 5,000m event, which she is also hoping to qualify for in Paris.

And Ryan wasn't the only Aussie athlete to make their mark at the Sound Running's The Ten event. Male athlete Jack Rayner recorded 27:09.57 in the men's 10,000m race. This was almost six seconds better than his personal best and national record. Rayner finished in 13th position. Aussie fans were full of praise for the individuals in the lead up to the Olympics later this year with Ryan especially looking promising in the long-distance event.

Jack Rayner falls short of Paris qualifier time

Rayner may have produced one of his best runs, but the 28-year-old was still short of the Paris Games automatic qualifier of 27:00.00. Despite falling a little more than nine seconds short, Rayner is still well placed to be selected in a second Australian Olympic squad later this year.

Rayner was dealt a tough blow when a stress fracture forced him to withdraw from the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Rayner ran the 5,000m earlier in the year at Melbourne, but is ranked 50th in the world in the 10,000 event.