Five added to Aussie Delhi Games team

Five added to Aussie Delhi Games team

Promising walker Jess Rothwell and four marathon runners have been added to the Australian track and field squad for October's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The squad now numbers 74 - including 12 elite athletes with a disability - and Athletics Australia hopes that number will increase to 90 by Games-time.

Rothwell forced her way onto the team by finishing ninth earlier this month at the World Race Walking Cup in Mexico in her comeback from injury.

The 20-year-old was an impressive 22nd on her major championships international debut at last year's world titles in Berlin.

She will join Claire Tallent and Cheryl Webb in the women's 20km race in Delhi.

"For a long time Jess has been regarded as having real potential going forward and the selectors had no hesitation in nominating her to the team," said AA chairman of selectors Peter Fitzgerald.

Marathon runners Lisa Flint, Martin Dent, Jeff Hunt and Michael Shelley were also added to the squad, joining Lisa Weightman, who earned automatic nomination to the team following her top-20 finish in Berlin last year.

Dent is the only one with previous Commonwealth Games experience, having contested the 3000m steeplechase four years ago in Melbourne.

Hunt impressed selectors by clocking a fast time of two hours 11 minutes on his marathon debut in Japan