The selectors have named Athens Olympic bronze medallist Jane Saville (20km walk), experienced campaigners Benita Johnson (marathon) Kate Smyth (marathon) and Lisa-Jane Weightman (marathon).

Jane Saville has been selected to compete in her fourth Olympic Games in Beijing, after making her debut in Atlanta in 1996.

The 33-year-old was responsible for one of the most memorable moments of the Sydney Games. Leading the field with only 300m to go, she was heartbreakingly disqualified as she entered the main stadium in front of a shocked home crowd.

However, four years later she turned the tables, an emotional bronze medal sitting proudly on her mantelpiece.

Saville will add her name to an exclusive list of Australian track and field athletes to have competed in four Olympics - joining walker Simon Baker, sprint star Raelene Boyle and marathoners Rob de Castella, Steve Moneghetti and Lisa Ondieki.

Saville has been battling a hamstring injury and only returned to competition last month, posting her first Olympic A-qualifier in Rio Major, Portugal. She cemented her place in the team at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup this month – her seventh place in an ‘A’ time of 1:29:27 proving to selectors her return to fitness.

Australian record holder Benita Johnson competed in two marathons last year, finishing fifth in Chicago (2:38.30) and seventh in London (2:29.47), the latter an ‘A’ qualifier.

Although Beijing will be Johnson’s third Olympic appearance, the 29-year-old has never competed in the marathon on the Olympic stage, previously lining up in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the last two editions of the Games.

After a four-month lay off over the summer to recover from a knee injury, Johnson bounced back to finish 11th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in April, before scoring a convincing win in the Great Edinburgh Run over 10km two weeks ago.

Rapidly improving Victorian marathon runner Kate Smyth ran a huge personal best (2:28:51) in Nagano, Japan last month, her strong ‘A’ performance placing her second in the race.

The 34-year-old was responsible for one of the memorable moments of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games when she courageously finished seventh in the marathon, but not before staggering to the line as a result of severe dehydration.

Lisa-Jane Weightman competed in her very first marathon in London a month ago, clocking 2:32:22 – the second fastest marathon on debut by an Australian woman.

Strong performances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the corresponding trials also played in Weightman’s favour.

Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors, Peter Fitzgerald, pointed out that under the Athletics Australia Selection Policy, all of the marathon nominations were at the discretion of the selectors.

“The selectors considered all of the matters set out in the criteria and all other matters that they believed were relevant in choosing the athletes for nomination to the AOC in the marathon events,” Fitzgerald explained.

“All the Athletes chosen for Nomination had an ‘A’ standard performance in the qualifying period except for Lisa-Jane.

“Even though Lisa-Jane did not have an ‘A’ standard performance, the selectors were of the view that she was worthy of nomination to the AOC. She is relatively young for a marathon runner, she has had a very promising result on debut, and she is clearly on an improvement curve that we believe makes her a real prospect for London 2012.”

Additional ‘in-stadium’ event selections can be made at any time between now and the final selectors’ meeting on June 23. All nominated athletes will be assessed against their ongoing obligations as set out in the nomination policy at the final selectors’ meeting. Those obligations include pre-Olympic form and fitness. Following that assessment, the list of final nominations will be sent to the Australian Olympic Committee on July 4.

Australian athletes selected for nomination into the 2008 Australian Olympic Games team

(as at May 19, 2008)