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West Australian
16-06-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Nicola Olyslagers and Linden Hall produce winning form ahead of World Athletics Championships
High jumper Nicola Olyslagers and distance runner Linden Hall are hitting top form ahead of September's World Athletics Championships following wins at the Stockholm Diamond League meet. Two-time Olympic silver medallist Olyslagers soared to a season-equalling 2.01m to beat Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.99m) 'The competition was great,' Olyslagers said after beating Mahuchikh, who won gold in the event at last year's Paris Olympics. 'It was the first time I've skipped so many heights. I skipped 1.97 (metres) to go to 1.99, and it required me to be bold. 'I was a bit afraid in doing it but I had the faith to keep going. This victory has taught me a lot about myself and that the best is still to come. 'I got injured here last year and it took courage to come back and go 'no, this is a great competition', so to win was to win over my fears, so it was a really great day.' Olyslagers' fellow Australian Eleanor Patterson bowed out at 1.95m to finish equal fourth. Meanwhile, Victorian Hall ran an impressive final lap in the women's 3000m to beat Uganda's Sarah Chelangat in a personal best time of 8:30.01 and claim a Diamond League win for the first time. 'I ran a big 5km PB recently, so I was hoping that would translate into a good 3km,' Hall said. 'I didn't feel too good in the early stages of the race but luckily, I came good at the end. 'I did a lot of the work mostly by myself in the last kilometre, so it was really encouraging to get a five-second personal best. 'It's been a good season so far and a nice confidence booster.' Other strong performances from Australians included a silver-medal effort from pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall, who cleared 5.90m to claim second behind Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, who sett a new world record of 6.28m. Bronze medals went to Ky Robinson, who produced a personal best of 12:58.38 in the 5000m, and his fellow Queenslander Matthew Denny, who placed third in the discus with a throw of 68.14m.
Perth Now
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Aussie pair claim Diamond League gold
High jumper Nicola Olyslagers and distance runner Linden Hall are hitting top form ahead of September's World Athletics Championships following wins at the Stockholm Diamond League meet. Two-time Olympic silver medallist Olyslagers soared to a season-equalling 2.01m to beat Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.99m) 'The competition was great,' Olyslagers said after beating Mahuchikh, who won gold in the event at last year's Paris Olympics. 'It was the first time I've skipped so many heights. I skipped 1.97 (metres) to go to 1.99, and it required me to be bold. 'I was a bit afraid in doing it but I had the faith to keep going. This victory has taught me a lot about myself and that the best is still to come. 'I got injured here last year and it took courage to come back and go 'no, this is a great competition', so to win was to win over my fears, so it was a really great day.' Olyslagers' fellow Australian Eleanor Patterson bowed out at 1.95m to finish equal fourth. Linden Hall of Team Australia celebrates winning the Women's 3000m Final. Credit: Linnea Rheborg / Getty Images Meanwhile, Victorian Hall ran an impressive final lap in the women's 3000m to beat Uganda's Sarah Chelangat in a personal best time of 8:30.01 and claim a Diamond League win for the first time. 'I ran a big 5km PB recently, so I was hoping that would translate into a good 3km,' Hall said. 'I didn't feel too good in the early stages of the race but luckily, I came good at the end. 'I did a lot of the work mostly by myself in the last kilometre, so it was really encouraging to get a five-second personal best. 'It's been a good season so far and a nice confidence booster.' Other strong performances from Australians included a silver-medal effort from pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall, who cleared 5.90m to claim second behind Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, who sett a new world record of 6.28m. Bronze medals went to Ky Robinson, who produced a personal best of 12:58.38 in the 5000m, and his fellow Queenslander Matthew Denny, who placed third in the discus with a throw of 68.14m.
Perth Now
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Soaring in Sweden: Olyslagers, Duplantis hit heights
Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers and 3000m runner Linden Hall made it a special day for Australian athletics at the Stockholm Diamond League meet but were still mere support acts to another world-record show-stopper from the incredible Armand Duplantis. Pole vaulter supreme 'Mondo' wowed his home fans in the Swedish capital's venerable Olympic Stadium on Sunday by soaring to 6.28 metres -- the 12th time the 25-year-old has set a new landmark. The double Olympic champ improved his previous record, set in February, by one centimetre on his first attempt, cheered to the rafters by an ecstatic home crowd. Australian Kurtis Marschall did his best to challenge the hometown hero but had to settle for second place with a 5.90m vault before his great pal Duplantis cleared 6.00m and set the stage for his record-busting vault, making the new landmark look preposterously easy. 'Mondo' sprinted away from the landing mat in ecstasy, tore off his vest to celebrate his first ever world record on Swedish soil and declared: "This was one of my biggest goals and dreams, to set a world record here at Stadion. "I really wanted to do it, I had my whole family here, from both sides - it's magic, it's magic!" Of his landmark leap, he added: "I almost couldn't believe it, it felt like the very first time I broke the record. It feels unreal, I'm just so happy, it's a cloud nine feeling. It's hard to explain, it's hard to compare, it felt a bit like the Olympics. "My grandma, she wanted me to promise yesterday that I would break the world record today - so I had a lot of pressure on me to do that in front of her, and I'm glad I could do it for her." He reckoned he would celebrate with a night on the town in Stockholm with the visiting sprint king Usain Bolt, who was watching from the stands. Earlier, Paris silver medallist Olyslagers had outjumped Olympic champ Yaroslava Mahuchikh with an equal season's best 2.01m leap that the Ukrainian star couldn't match, clearing a best of 1.99m. Olyslagers' domestic rival Eleanor Patterson had to settle for joint-fourth with a 1.91m effort. "That felt great, jumping out there in those conditions," said Olympic silver medalist Olyslagers. "I take great inspiration competing against other world-class high jumpers, and am managing the travel to and from Australia by allowing myself more time -- and it is working." In the 3000m, the 33-year-old Victorian veteran Hall enjoyed the win of her career as she knocked over five seconds off her personal best, battling home to clock 8min 30.01sec and oust Ugandan Sarah Chelengat by 1.26sec. "I won a 1500 metres here a few years ago but I hadn't won a Diamond League race before. I've finally got there so it's pretty cool," beamed Hall. "I hadn't started well but I got to the last 600 and thought 'I've got a little more in the legs'. This is my favourite Diamond League and now this only adds to that." With agencies
News.com.au
04-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Aussie women shine on world stage with Diamond League podiums
Gout Gout has lifted athletics to a place in the Australian sports consciousness where it hasn't been for more than 50 years. But the teen tyro won't be doing the heavy lifting alone, with a gaggle of track and field athletes excelling on the world stage. Victorian Sarah Billings became the second-fastest Australian woman over 800m over the weekend when she finished second in the Shanghai Diamond League in a personal best time. Her 1min 57.83sec behind Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma (1:56.64), made her the only Aussie woman beside two-time Olympian Catriona Bisset to break the 1:58 barrier for the distance after crossing just 0.05sec outside Bisset's national record. It was a second Diamond League podium in a row for Billings, who was third in the 1000m at the opening Diamond League round of the year in Xiamen. The breakthrough campaign of Sarah Billings has rolled on at the Shanghai Diamond League which saw her become the second fastest Australian woman in history over 800m, finishing in second place as high jumpers Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson also landed on the podium ðŸ'ŽðŸ'¥â€¦ — Australian Athletics (@AustralianAths) May 3, 2025 The 27-year-old, who has already qualified for the 1500m at the world championships in Tokyo later this year, heeded the advice of coach Nic Bideau, stepping on the gas in the final laps and waiting for gaps to open down the straight. 'Today I had a really clear race plan, I just wanted to go really hard at 300m (to go),' Billings said. 'My coach Nic told me this morning that gaps open up with 100m to go on the inside and to watch for it; I watched for it and some opened up. 'I have been picked for the World Championships in the 1500m already so that's still the main goal, but I think that (800m) was pretty close to the national record, so I'm just really happy.' High jump duo Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson also stepped on to the podium in second and third place respectively, only bettered on the night by world record holder and Olympic champion, Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Olyslagers cleared 1.98m on her second attempt to separate herself from Patterson who finished with 1.95m. Mahuchikh was the only woman in the field to clear 2m, with a clean sheet to 2.00m, where Olyslagers missed all three attempts before the Ukrainian lifted the bar to 2.03m, missing her attempts. 'The competition today was a big improvement from last week (Xiamen Diamond League), I enjoyed it,' Olyslagers said. 'Today I had courage and I am thankful for that. 'This is the first time I have started my season a bit later, so every jump of course I want to be over 2m and getting personal bests but I have great faith that God will get me ready. I don't worry about the past, I just go forward.' In other results, pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall (5.72m) was fourth behind Olympic champ Mondo Duplantis, who set a meet record 6.11m, while Mackenzie Little was ninth in the javelin and Liam Adcock seventh in the pre-program long jump. On the track, South Australia's Matthew Clarke was 10th in the 3000m steeple chase, while rising Queensland middle distance runner Jude Thomas was 16th in the 5000m in his Diamond League debut.
West Australian
03-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Sarah earns Aussie top Billings in Diamond League
Sarah Billings has come perilously close to breaking the Australian 800 metres record as she enjoyed another breakthrough two-lap outing at the latest Diamond League meeting in China. Following her third place in the 1000m in the previous week's meeting in Xiamen, the improving Melbourne athlete finished runner-up in the 800m at the Shanghai-Keqiao meet on Saturday, clocking a new lifetime best of 1 minute 57.83 seconds as she chased home Ethiopian winner Tsige Duguma. The 27-year-old's time was just five-hundredths of a second outside Catriona Bisset's national mark of 1:57.78, set in London six years ago, as she powered through the pursuing pack to become just the second Australian woman to crack the 1:58 barrier. "I couldn't be happier! I've been picked for the world championships in the 1500m already, so that's still the main goal, but that was pretty close to the national record, so I'm really happy," said Billings, who knocked over a second off her best of 1:58.94 but was no match for 24-year-old Duguma's new Ethiopian record of 1:56.64. "I had a really clear race plan, I just wanted to go really hard at 300m to go. My coach Nic (Bideau) told me this morning that gaps open up with 100m to go on the inside and to watch for it. I watched for it and some opened up," Billings said. She wasn't the only Australian woman on the podium, with the brilliant high jump duo of runner-up Nicola Olyslagers and third-placed Eleanor Patterson again having to give best to Ukraine's Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Olyslagers cleared 1.98m on her second attempt to finish ahead of Patterson (1.95m) but Mahuchikh's 2.00m clearance again put her on top as it had in Xiamen. "The competition today was a big improvement from last week. I enjoyed it! Today I had courage and I am thankful for that," said Olympic double silver medallist Olyslagers. "This is the first time I have started my season a bit later, so every jump of course I want to be over two metres and getting personal bests, but I have great faith that God will get me ready. I don't worry about the past, I just go forward." Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis soared 6.11 metres to win the pole vault as usual, but missed out on his single crack at a world record attempt at 6.28m. Australian Kurtis Marschall cleared 5.72m to claim fourth place. Matthew Clarke clocked 8:28.86 for 10th place in the 3000m steeplechase while Mackenzie Little (NSW) was ninth in the javelin with a 56.85m throw. Rising middle-distance prospect Jude Thomas marked his Diamond League debut over 5000m by finishing 16th in 13:32.99. International performance of the night was American Cordell Tinch becoming the fourth fastest high hurdler of all time as he scorched to victory in 12.87 seconds. South African Akani Simbine backed up his win in Xiamen last week by running down Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson in the last few strides to win the 100m in 9.98 seconds. Karsten Warholm, who ran a world best time in the 300m hurdles in Xiamen, confirmed his fine form by dominating the more familiar 400m in 47.28. With Reuters
