Canberra teenager Cameron Myers has had his Paris Olympics hopes dashed after a controversial selection decision.
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Myers was advised this week he had missed out on sealing a spot on the Australian men's 1500m track team in Paris, with Oliver Hoare, Stewart McSweyn and Adam Spencer selected ahead of the 18-year-old.
Myers will now be a reserve, in case any of the other three are injured and have to pull out in the coming weeks before the Games.
"It's disappointing, because he's been doing so well and it'd be lovely to give an 18-year-old that Olympic experience, but it won't be the last time he has a chance to run at the Games," Myers' coach Dick Telford told The Canberra Times.
"It all came down to whether Stewart McSweyn decided to run both the 1500m and the 5000m.
"Some thought he'd just do the 5000m because he's been running really well and Athletics Australia had said to a few people they'd rather athletes focus on one event. However, Stewie decided he wants to concentrate on the 1500m, which is just bad luck for Cam.
"Stewie has a faster time than Cam and he's got the right to select whichever race he wants to compete in."
It was a tough call for the Australian Olympic Committee with all four athletes meeting the entry standard time of 3:33:50 for the 1500m event, however only three places on the team were available.
Myers' former coach Lee Bobbin said the youngster would no doubt be "unhappy" with the decision, but there will be more opportunities for the Canberra product to shine in the coming years.
"It was always going to be a tough decision," Bobbin said.
"In the Olympics in 2028 and 2032 he will have his chances. I'm sure he's unhappy about it, but the three guys selected do deserve their spot.
"In the next month Cam will be at the world juniors and his time now is good enough to win gold. There's plenty that have gone on to represent Australia that have run well there, so I'd support him for that.
"In the World Championships and Olympics to come, he'll be one of our best medal options."
![Cameron Myers at the ACT Athletics Championships in January. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Cameron Myers at the ACT Athletics Championships in January. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168198572/01d1efe8-4c87-4d93-b9d6-faa582418bb2.jpg/r0_283_5300_3263_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
McSweyn is set to compete in his second Games after reaching the final in the 1500m in Tokyo, but in Paris he's also earned selection in the 5000m as well.
In the history of athletics competition at the Games, those competing in the two long-distance events rarely achieve great results, raising the question whether Myers would have been the better option with a sole focus on the 1500m.
Two weeks ago in the Netherlands McSweyn had a time of 3:35 in windy conditions and notched a new personal best in California in May in the 5000m with a time of 12:56.
In the last month Myers has clocked times of 3:33 and 3:36 in the 1500m in French events. With the pair so hard to split, perhaps the final decision came down to their performances at the Australian Championships in April, where Myers finished fifth behind McSweyn in fourth place.
Spencer won the 1500m final in Adelaide to lock in his Paris spot, with Hoare in second. In Oslo in May, Hoare clocked a time of 3:31:08. He will compete in his second Games in Paris where the 27-year-old will again attempt to reach the 1500m final.
Myers won a 1500m event at a silver event in Sotteville-les-Rouen in France on Friday morning Australian time, where Telford said he ran the best he had seen in a while, and it could set him up for an incredible finish to the European season.
"He ran a superb last 200m which is where he can sometimes fade, but he's got that mojo back which was great," Telford said.
"It made up for the disappointment when he found out he wasn't selected for the Olympics.
"In winning that race it gives him a chance to run one of the biggest races, a Diamond League event in Monaco in a few weeks which will have all the Olympians in it.
"Then there's the World Junior Championship in August in Peru after the Olympics, and in the meantime in a few days he has a 1000m event in a gold meet in the Netherlands and his final Europe race will be in a London Diamond League event on July 20."
Myers has been one of Australian athletics' hottest names after he became one of the world's fastest junior runners, with a sub-four minute mile last year.
Making the Paris squad would have been a huge achievement considering his meteoric rise, but it certainly didn't seem out of reach - until now.
Myers will now have to wait until Los Angeles in 2028 for his next shot at representing Australia at the Olympic Games.
The official remaining spots in Australia's 2024 Paris Olympics track and field team are expected to be announced next week.