The announcement follows the confirmation on Monday (July 2) – when the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) qualifying window closed – that the two Australian men's teams had done enough to be in the 16 qualifiers for London.

Based on the average of their best times, the 4x400 men were ranked 13th and the 4x100m men 15th.

The Australian women's 4x100m team narrowly missed out on an Olympic berth, finishing 18th.

"It's really nice to finally have that solidified," said 19-year-old 400m runner Steven Solomon (pictured below), who is preparing to run at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona.

"The team has been working really hard.


"With two 3min 01sec performances we were always confident, but now it is official and we can really look towards London and hopefully build on what could potentially be a big result for us."

Solomon is joined in the 4x400m squad by Steffenson and two other experienced campaigners in Joel Milburn and Ben Offereins.

The 2004 men's 4x400 silver was only the second medal Australia had ever won in Olympic athletics relay events and the last men's track medal the Australian men have won; the team also won bronze at the 2009 World Championships.

"The first step is we've got to try and make that final in London," Solomon said.

"Everyone in the team is capable of producing an outstanding run and four outstanding runs will equal a medal with the depth and talent we have in our team.

"Hopefully we can pull it all together and come out of London with something shiny around our necks."

Milburn, a semi-finalist in the individual 400m at the Beijing Olympics, has returned to form after several years of injury problems, while Offereins clocked the third fastest Australian time this year, with 45.96, behind Solomon and Steffensen, and was part of the bronze medal team in 2009.


Five men have also been named for the 4x100m relay including Joshua Ross, Andrew McCabe, Anthony Alozie, Tim Leathart (pictured above) and Isaac Ntiamoah.

"It is such a big relief to be secured in the top 16 teams," Leathart said.

"It's only really just hit me I guess, it's slowly sinking in."

Ross, an Athens 2004 Olympic relay finalist, returned to track and field in 2011 after a two-year layoff.

His time of 10.16 in Kawasaki in May could have secured him an individual 100m berth had it not been for an illegal 2.9 metres per second tailwind.

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