Commonwealth Games athletes named

Injury-plagued Craig Mottram won't get the chance to reprise his 5000m heroics from four years ago at October's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Athletics Australia named the bulk of the Games team on Monday at the conclusion of the three-day trials in Perth.

The AA selectors filled all three berths in the men's 1500m and 5000m, meaning there was no vacancy in either event for Mottram, who missed the trials as he continued his recovery from a longstanding Achilles tendon complaint.

His only chance of being added to the team would involve stepping up to the 10,000m and running a qualifying time in the next four months.

"I'd have to have a think about that," said Mottram.

"It's not my priority event, so I haven't spoken to coach (Chris Wardlaw).

"I haven't spoken to anybody.

"I didn't know the results from the national championships. It's news to me."

Sixty-nine athletes - including 12 elite athletes with a disability - were named in the Games team on Monday, a number that head coach Eric Hollingsworth hopes will reach 100 by October.

AA is targeting 30 medals in Delhi, which would see Australia again top the track and field medals table.

In other selection highlights:

* Fifteen-year-old pole vaulter Liz Parnov will be the youngest member of the Australian team, with 37-year-old sprinter Patrick Johnson the oldest;

* 28 of the 57 able-bodied athletes will be making their Games debuts, while Tamsyn Lewis (4x400m relay) has been nominated for her fifth Commonwealth Games squad;

* Team captain Steve Hooker (pole vault), John Steffensen (400m) and Scott Martin (discus) will defend their 2006 titles;

* Martin (shot put and discus) and Ryan Gregson (800m and 1500m) were selected in two individual events;

* Melissa Breen (100m) was the only woman selected to run a flat track race shorter than 5000m; and

* Two-time 400m hurdles defending champion Jana Rawlinson-Pittman will get the opportunity to earn a berth in the squad if she returns to the track in the coming months.

WA sprinter Jody Henry admitted to being disappointed about missing selection in the individual 400m, despite winning the 200m-400m double at the selection trials.

"I won't lie, I'm a little bit disappointed but I understand the decision by the selectors," said Henry.

"I just have to go out and run the A (qualifying time of 51.90 seconds) and I'm confident that I can do that. "

Hollingsworth believes the 2010 team is stronger "from a quality point of view" than the squad which won 41 Games medals, including 16 golds, on home soil in Melbourne four years ago.

And he said Mottram would be given every chance to force his way onto the team in the 10,000m.

"As a mature high performance athlete he is a credit to the sport in how he approaches it," said Hollingsworth.

"He understands the ups and downs of track and field.

"He is preparing himself now for the knowledge of the decision and where he will go from there."

Since claiming the silver medal behind Kenyan Gus Choge in an epic 5000m and being tripped in the 1500m final at the 2006 Melbourne Games, the 29-year-old Mottram has endured a torrid four years.

The 2005 world championships bronze medallist was hampered by a hamstring complaint at the 2007 world titles where he finished 13th.

He failed to qualify for the 5000m final at the Beijing Olympics and missed last year's world championships in Berlin due to the Achilles problem.

Mottram's last competitive race was when he led the field in the opening 5km leg of the Chiba Ekiden relay in Japan in November.

His most recent outing over 10,000m was in 2008, when he clocked a PB of 27:34.48 in California.