Head coach Eric Hollingsworth is confident Australia can parlay its best world athletics championships medal haul into more Commonwealth domination next year in Delhi.
And the long-term project for success at the 2012 London Olympics remains firmly on track.
Led by inspirational captain Steve Hooker, the Berlin team genuinely embraced their new identity as the Flame in a sport which has often struggled to foster a sense of collective unity in Australia at the elite level.
The haul of two golds to Hooker and discus thrower Dani Samuels and bronzes to long jumper Mitchell Watt and the men’s 4x400m relay squad was the country’s best-ever at the biennial world titles.
Australia finished 10th on the medals table, with the United States leading the way (22 medals including 10 golds).
But at least as important as the number of medals won by Australia was the age of those who won them.
Hooker has just turned 27 and is getting better all the time, so much so that he showed he can now win major titles on one leg.
Samuels and Watt, both 21, were the youngest finalists in their respective events and the 4x400m squad were all aged 26 or under.
“We’ve ended up with a really great championships,” said Hollingsworth, after his first meet in charge since taking over from Max Binnington.
“Obviously it started off a little bit slow but our top guns came through late.
“Hooker was unbelievable, one of the best wins I’ve seen in a major championships ever.
“Mitchell Watt, a new face coming through who’s only been competing for the last year, producing a medal was another fantastic performance.”
The likes of Watt and Samuels were able to turn their dominant form on the European circuit into podium success at the world championships.
Apart from the medallists, Hollingsworth mentioned 20-year-old walker Jessica Rothwell as another athlete to impress on her senior international debut.
“We just hoped they would cope with the pressure and that was one of the main things I was looking for from the Australian athletes and a lot have stepped up in that way,” he said.
Hollingsworth was also vindicated in his decision to send a large team of 46 to Berlin, a policy that will continue next year when the Australian track and field squad is likely to number between 70 and 90 with the qualifying standards lower for a Commonwealth Games.
“And we’ll blood some younger people in that group as well,” he said.
“And from that group in Delhi we’ll start on the road to take it forward to Daegu (2011 world championships) and London.”
The main challenge in Delhi will again come from England.
And it shapes as a mighty battle with the well-funded British squad also performing well in Berlin (two golds and a total of six medals) and closing in on a home Olympics.
“Delhi will be a good meet, but we haven’t been beaten at the Commonwealth Games since (2002 in Manchester),” said Hollingsworth.
“I’ll be very keen to re-establish that and go away from England and some of the other countries.
“And I think with a team of 70-90 we’ll take care of business again.”
The Flame will also be strengthened if former world champions Jana Pittman-Rawlinson (400m hurdles) and Nathan Deakes (50km walk), along with javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister, can overcome the injury concerns which ruled them out of the Berlin world championships.
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