Ella Connolly

Visiting Hobart's Domain athletics track, one's gaze is drawn up to the heights of Mt Wellington / Kunanyi, often to check the incoming weather.  While the track cannot claim "altitude" status as such, on a calm, clear evening the sense of space can often lead to times and distances that excel.

Given it's been ten years since Hobart hosted a “classic” meet, there are high hopes for Saturday’s meeting, with an influx of highly credentialled national and international athletes, and even the weather forecast looks like it will provide the perfect setting.

Fans would be advised to get to the meet early.  It’s not often you can say you’ve seen the second-best athlete in the world, and Hobart spectators will be the first to see Matthew Denny throw this season.  This is the first of three events in Australia for Denny, before heading to Ramona, aka ‘Throw Town’, that wind-swept part of Oklahoma where Denny almost took the discus World Record last year.

Speaking of second-best – Australia’s second fastest man ever over 100m, Lachlan Kennedy, returns to the track over 200m after a break of nine months.  Kennedy faces off against his training partner Calab Law, and local product (now Brisbane-based) Jacob Despard.

The other marquee events are the 3000m, given their National Championship status, the first open Championship events held in Hobart since 2001. 

In the open race the men’s field sees Callum Davies go in as favourite with his recent strong form, but if Alexander Stitt is there with 200m to go then expect a close finish.  Brett Robinson and Adam Goddard recently showed their track speed over 5000m, and the two steeplechasers Ed Trippas and Ben Buckingham will enjoy the freedom of a flat track.

The women’s race will be gripping given it boasts National record-holders for 3000m, Georgia Griffith, and for 5000m & 10000m Rose Davies.  Along with Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, they’ll be wanting a fast early pace because if it comes to a sprint-finish this brings into the mix fast-finishing record holders formerly for 800m (and currently U20 1500m) Claudia Hollingsworth and formerly 1000m Abbey Caldwell.

These 3000m events are also significant because they are a key part of the story that selectors will construct to determine the “discretionary” picks for the World U20 Championships in this event, given it will not be held at the Australian U20 Championships in Brisbane in April.

Alexander Cameron-Smith took the win over Lucas Chis at the Zatopek De Castella 3000m, and they battle again, but this time the contest will include Charles Barrett, who recently become Australia’s second youngest sub-4 miler.  Watch for the time as no junior has run under the World U20 qualifier of 8 minutes.

In the junior women’s contest, Imogen Baker’s season has been impressive with qualifiers across three distances.  Wanting to also make their case to the selectors will be Milla Roberts, who has the 3000m qualifier, and Eliza Lawton whose PB is also under the standard.

The theme of “junior race within the senior race” is also a feature of the women’s 800m.  Incredibly ten junior women have the World U20 800m standard and another four (Tobin, Emanuel, Williams, Owen) could join them after Saturday’s race.  Emma Fryga has been the fastest and she’ll be looking to be competitive with Jaylah Hancock-Cameron & Tess Kirsopp-Cole.

Hobart athletics fans were fortunate to see the great Sebastian Coe, in the twilight of his career, race a 1000m on the Domain back in 1990.  Peter Bol’s graceful, smooth style is reminiscent of Coe, and he races over 800m with much the same field as the Perth meet with the addition of exciting junior Tate van Camp.  Bob Abdelrahim has improved his PB each time he’s run this season – can that continue?

Missing from the 800m is the World U20 silver medallist Peyton Craig, because he’s turning his attention to the 1500m, a distance he showed early promise in.  His PB of 3:41.13 looks something of an anachronism, and sub-3:40 men Will Lewis and Connor Whitely will be pushing to get back to those levels.

Another one testing themselves in a different event is Olympic decathlon bronze medallist Ashley Moloney, who’s entered for the 400m hurdles.  A 45 seconds 400m runner and sub-8 second 60m hurdler, Moloney has the elements to produce something exciting.  He’s up against newly minted sub-50 seconds man, Matthew Hunt.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, Alanah Yukich has made the trip from Perth and often runs her best after long travels.  Marli Wilkinson will want to continue her strong start to the season.

There’s a couple of returning winners from that 2016 Hobart meet.  Hamish Peacock’s longevity in the sport is incredible, and while his 80 metres days are behind him, he’ll enjoy competing with Sri Lankan Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage and Frenchman Felise Vaha'i Sosaia as they challenge that mark and his meet record of 80.77m.

Jack Hale’s the other 2016 winner returning, with his new-found form from the grass tracks and various gift wins.  Will be interesting to see how this translates to the track and in a field that includes fast men from Japan, Rai Atago, and Sri Lanka, Merone Wuesinghe.

The women sprinters are making the most of the visit, with many backing up in the 200m after the 100m.  Amaya Mearns, Ella Connolly, Olivia Rose Inkster and Mia Gross are all running the double.  And will have to contend with Bree Rizzo in the 100m, and then in-form Monique Hanlon in the 200m, as well as the return of 2019 National Champion, Maddie Coates.

The women’s hammer event is of high-quality with two National record holders and 70m+ Olympians in Lauren Bruce (NZ) and Stephanie Ratcliffe.   Emma Berg and Alexander Kolesnikoff look to be the leading contenders in their respective shot put events.

Quality continues in the jumps with World U20 long jump champion Delta Amidzovski, facing two-times National champion Sam Dale and World University Games medallist Emelia Surch.  World U20 silver medallist Izobelle Louison-Roe goes up against fellow 1.90m+ high jumper Emily Whelan.  In the men’s triple jump, winner in Perth Awan Akuen, Shemaiah James and Liam Glew will all be looking to push each other well over that 16m mark.

It's a fast-paced high-quality meet in Hobart, finishing with some cracking 3000m racing.  Plenty of high points and highlights for sure.

Perth is well known for its hard, bouncy surfaces - think the old WACA cricket pitch. But there's nothing better than a soft layer under a hard top - not talking the pavlova in Freo - but the Mondo surface at Perth’s Athletics Stadium.

The forecast for the Perth Track Classic looks just about right - high 20's - to cook the vulcanised rubber & polymer compounds perfectly for the sprinters.  Get ready for some explosive action, including in the jumps, and provided the Fremantle Doctor behaves itself, we should be in for a night of wind-legal excitement.

What better way to start the evening than with Australia’s most recent Olympic athletics Champion returning to the runway in the POLE VAULT. Nina Kennedy will enjoy the moment in front of her home crowd, and to say she is an inspiration for many athletes is an understatement.  It’s perhaps no coincidence that last year Australia had the most number of women over 4.00 metres in the pole vault ever (11), with four of them juniors.

Another great champion for Australian athletics, Brooke Buschkuehl has also recently returned to the runway.  But in Perth it’s a slightly different version – this time facing the TRIPLE JUMP take-off board.  World University Games bronze medallist Desleigh Owusu will likely appreciate the domestic competition on her first hop-step-jump for the season, and will also be joined by Izobelle Louison-Roe whose season’s started in leaps and bounds with World Junior qualifiers in both triple and high jumps. Last time she jumped, Karla Boras was just 13cm from that qualifier and will be hopping (sorry!) to break that 13 metre mark.

And continuing the theme of champions, Michelle Jenneke flies to Perth and will look to continue her form after the recent World Indoors qualifier over the 60m HURDLES.  While the Commonwealth standard of 12.73 looks tough this early in the season, Jenneke has started with her first sub-13 in January ever.  Speaking of sub-13, Danielle Shaw and Emily Britton after good starts to 2026, would also love to see a “12” at the front of their time, and advance their standing in the Commonwealth rankings – an important factor the selectors will be considering.

It’s now 5.15pm AWST, hopefully dropping to under 30 degrees, and the wind less than 7.2 km/h (2.0 m/s). Heats of the WOMEN’S 100m.

Zoe Hobbs isn’t travelling all the way to Perth for the pavlova.  Her first visit to Perth is purely to run fast.  The Oceania record holder has gone sub-11 already this year (albeit windy) – don’t miss this heat run because Hobbs will likely want to make the most of every chance she has on this track.  Bree Rizzo, Ebony Lane and recent World Indoors qualified Olivia Dodds, will all have the same mindset.

Also keep an eye on the incredible junior talent in these heats.  It won’t be hard to spot Thewbelle Philp – she’ll be the one rocketing out of the blocks – and look out for Kate Philpott & local Jessica Hanney – both have World Junior qualifiers (11.77).  Another below the qualifying time is local Charlotte Ehioghae, but at just 14-years-old she has a couple of years to wait to be eligible.

The MEN’S 100m gives us the chance to see Rohan Browning, Joshua Azzopardi and Joseph Ayoade first runs for the season.  Browning will have fond memories of Perth given he won the National title there last year, and will be keen to make the most of the track, as to Jacob Despard, Connor Bond and Christopher Ius. 

Keep an eye out for Alexander Colgan who ran a (very) windy 10.01 and Benjamin Kelly, still just 19 years, who emerged from Canberra with a new PB of 10.23 (+1.2), improvement of 0.42 from the start of the year.  Also local speedstar Josiah John with the 10.50 World Junior qualifier in sight, a time he’s been under every year for the past three years.

At the same time the men are finishing their 100m heats, the pole vaulters will start launching themselves into the Perth-blue sky.  Kurtis Marschall will have noticed the strange discrepancy in men’s POLE VAULT standards between World Indoors (5.90m) & Commonwealth Games (5.65m), while for other field events the standards are similar.  Other vaulters like Dalton Di Medio (PB 5.51m) and Aidan Princena-White (PB 5.53m) may well fancy their chances against that Commonwealth standard.

The LONG JUMPERS will also be warming up.  Since 2006, at least two Australians have jumped over eight metres every year (not incl. 2020).  Eleven of those years it’s been three. Who will be the first this year?  Jalen Rucker looks to be back to form with a recent 7.94m, and Liam Fairweather will be looking to replicate that eight metre jump he achieved in Perth last year.

And just to backtrack – where else have we see the men competing up to this stage?

We’ve had the men tackle the 5000m in the heat at 4.30pm.  A tough ask but Jonathan Harris and Matthew Ramsden would have taken up the challenge and probably led the way.

The 110m HURDLES men including Timothy Forster and William Wong would have been hoping to break 14 seconds and had Japanese athlete Ryo Koike (PB 13.57) to chase.

Yual Reath would have flown in the HIGH JUMP, keen to clear that 2.28m he just missed in Melbourne and maybe more.

Things are hopefully cooling by 6pm, but on the track it’s just hotting up.  Expect a roar from the crowd when the MEN’S 800m field is introduced and hometown hero, Peter Bol steps forward.  The young Bol started his trade in Perth with bold front running, and while he’ll likely be more measured given his first race of the season, there’s no relaxing in this field.

Being the King means there’s others wanting your crown. The battles Bol has had domestically with Luke Boyes and Daniel Williams are becoming legendary, with less than a second separating them on most occasions.

Perth will add another chapter to that story, but Bol also faces challenges from his own camp with the Justin Rinaldi trained athletes a big presence in this field.  Newly-minted 1:46 man Bob Abdelrahim will look to back up that stunning start to the season.  Four internationals have decided to kick-off their seasons in Australia at the Rinaldi ‘stables’, with 1:44 runner Tiarnan Crorken (GBR) the quickest on paper and fresh off his 4-flat mile run in Melbourne.

Next on the track we have the 400m FINALS.  Such a thrill to see Australian 4x400m relay teams once again prominent on the international stage and the talent has travelled to Perth to test out the Mondo.

In the women’s race, while Ellie Beer is the stand-out, only a second separates most of the rest of the field.  Jemma Pollard has put down a marker with her 52.18 PB for others to test themselves against in what for most is their first race of the season including local Amelia Rowe, who returns home from a one-month training camp in South Africa.

Less than a second also covers a good chunk of the men’s field.  Cooper Sherman and Thomas Reynolds pushed each other to PBs last month in Canberra – wouldn’t it be great if they can push again and both go under 45 seconds.  Junior Seth Kennedy will be keen to improve his World U20 qualifying mark in this strong field.

Earlier in the program we also would have seen the one lappers who decide to make things more difficult by jumping hurdles as well. Sarah Carli and Alanah Yukich are the best exponents of the 400m HURDLES craft in Australia amongst the women, and the Olympians will battle it out.  A couple of juniors, Maiya Hewitt and Mia Shelley, will have their own head-to-head, with Shelley looking to push under 60 seconds for the first time.

Similarly in the DISCUS earlier, Olympian Taryn Gollshewsky will lead the way for the World U20 qualified juniors, Chelsey Wayne and Lauren Kelly.

And the men’s JAVELIN would have likely seen the thrill of 80 metres throws from Rumesh Pathirage (SRI) and maybe Felise Vaha’I Sosaia (FRA) with Neil Janse and Hamish Peacock the leading Australians, and recently qualified World U20 Decathlete, local Wyatt Hill competing.

While many of her middle-distance Australian team-mates have been jetting about, Abbey Caldwell has been building a solid base at home. Already with the WOMEN’S 1500m World Indoors standard, her next target is 4:01.50 for the Commonwealth standard, and Caldwell will be pleased to see good friend to Australian shores, Nozomi Tanaka in the field, as she is never one to let the pace slow. Jaylah Hancock-Cameron has really powered over the last 300m of her recent 800m races and looks in PB form for this event. There’s also an interesting trans-Tasman contest between two leading juniors, Emma Fryga from Brisbane and Scarlett Robb from Auckland.

The 200m events complete the evening.  Christoper Ius will be expected to lead out the men, but two fast Japanese competitors as well as Jake Hayter and local Christopher Geordas – both of whom have run PBs this year – will be chasing him down.

In the women’s race Ella Connolly always finds good form in the domestic season, and her recent 400m time suggests she could push for sub-23 seconds. Watch for another young local talent, 15-year-old Emilia Reed, who stunned last year at Nationals on this track breaking the National under 16 100m record.

Here's to a fast and furious Perth Track Classic, and maybe some pavlova after to celebrate! 

With three Diamond League meetings happening over the next week, the rolling updates in this article will track Australian athletes in their attempts to qualify for the Diamond League Final (Zurich 27-28 August).  An explainer on the Diamond League can be found here.

Update 22nd August

Outcomes from Lausanne

In atrocious conditions the athletes must have been thinking of competing without getting injured, as well as striving for times, height and distance.  Summary of results here.

In terms of finals qualification, Mackenzie Little was in the hot seat (or rainy runway?).  Needing a 6th place or better, plus beating one of her rivals, she probably thought after her first throw of 56.15m that it was a good start but would need to improve.  As it happened, and as the rain got heavier, that throw ending up giving her 5th place, which meant she qualifies 5th for the final.

Already finals qualified athetes had a hit out with Nicola Olyslagers winning in a three-way tie off one clearance at 1.91m, Eleanor Patterson 4th on a countback with the same height.  Liam Adcock, 8th in the long jump, and Kurtis Marschall, no height in the pole vault, will both turn their focus now to Zurich,

The result of the 800m, in which Claudia Hollingsworth finished 7th in 1:58.81, confirmed Sarah Billings has qualified at this distance for the final.

The women's 4x100m relay team (Connolly, Rizzo, Edwards, Lewis) managed to get a slippery baton around the track in 43.24, ahead of Cote D'Ivoire, although both these teams look to have sewn up the last two qualifying spots for World Championships. 

Brussels 22nd August

The calendar waits for no-one, and we have Brussels on early tomorrow morning.  Matthew Denny probably just needs a legal discus throw to confirm his qualification, while Linden Hall has a bit more work to qualify for the 1500m.

There's a range of scenarios in the women's 1500m as to who qualifies given a number of women at the top of points table are not competing (including Jessica Hull).  In summary, it appears if Hall can finish in the top 6 and beat one of the USA athletes she'll likely qualify. A 7th or 8th placing could still see her through to the final depending on other placings.  Interestingly Faith Kipyegon will not qualify for the final, meaning we'll have a new women's 1500m DL champion for the first time since 2019.

Zurich 27-28 Aug

In summary, Australia has six athletes qualified for the final:
High Jump: Nicola Olyslagers & Eleanor Patterson
Long Jump: Liam Adcock
Pole Vault: Kurtis Marschall
Javelin: Mackenzie Little
800m: Sarah Billings

Two competing in Brussels can seal their qualification:
Discus: Matthew Denny
1500m: Linden Hall

And two are sitting Brussels out but are likely to qualify:
1500m: Jessica Hull
1500m: Cameron Myers

Update 20th August

Outcomes from Silesia

Linden Hall and Cameron Myers gained some valuable DL points with 6th place finishes.  This pushes Myers into a relatively safe spot for finals qualification and moves Linden Hall, who also PB'ed, into a finals qualifying spot - see Brussels section below.

Claudia Hollingsworth's 800m Area Record was a highlight, with Abbey Caldwell very close behind in a PB.  Hollingsworth has been added to the DL 800m in Lausanne.  Kurtis Marschall again tests the six metre mark and finishes 3rd.  

Jessica Hull ran the 4th fastest time ever for 2000m in pacing Faith Kipyegon's 3000m WR attempt.  Lauren Ryan is in peak form, running her 3rd PB in a row, this time over 3000m.  Rose Davies finished a very credible 4th, with Georgia Griffith in 7th.

Oliver Hoare & Catriona Bisset have both commented their training form is not being reflected in their race results - both go again early Thursday morning.

Lausanne 20th August

The event with most significance early Thursday morning (aest) will be the Women's Javelin, with Mackenzie Little flying in to compete.  Little currently sits in 7th and in order to move into the final's qualifying top 6, needs to finish at least 6th in this event and beat one of Ruiz Hurtado or Sietina.  Perhaps more importantly in the lead up to the World Championships, Little will be hoping to find that 60m+ form that made her such a force in this event over the past few years.

Another event with potential ramifications is the non-DL women's "B" 800m in which Catriona Bisset & Bendere Oboya are racing.  There's a chance this is something of a head-to-head before the Australian World Championships team is selected next week, with one 800m spot still up for grabs. 

Claudia Hollingsworth gets a start in the DL 800m event, a great test in a quality field with many likely World Championship finalists.  The result of this event will not impact Sarah Billings current DL final qualifying spot for the 800m.

Jack Rayner goes in the 5000m (with Jude Thomas pacing).  Rayner's first 5000m since he ran his sub-13 minute PB indoors and then unfortunately had an injury derail his outdoor season.  Another reason to keep an eye on this event is the potential for results to impact Seth O'Donnell's qualification chances for World Championships - see more here.

The Australian Women 4x100m relay team will race at the end of the program against quality European teams and Cote D'Ivoire.  Sitting in 15th spot of 16, as one of only two time qualifiers, this race could have assisted a non-qualified country to challenge Australia's qualification time of 42.48  However, all teams running are qualified, except for Cote D'Ivoire which is listed at 16/16.  Therefore Australia is safe in this race (team listed is Ella Connolly, Kristie Edwards, Georgia Harris, Torrie Lewis), and will then hope a country does not have a fast relay during the few remaining National Championships this weekend. If they qualify, Australia will have all relay teams running at the World Championships!

Also competing are Australia's already DL final qualified athletes, Nicola Olyslagers & Eleanor Patterson in the high jump, Liam Adcock in the long jump & Kurtis Marschall in the street pole vault.

Brussels 22nd August

The startlists for the final DL event are out.  Australia has only two athletes competing but others will be keeping a close eye on results regarding potential finals qualification.

Matthew Denny returns to Europe for the discus event and will face all the other men currently in the world top 5.  Denny just needs to finish in the top 8 to qualify for the final for his fourth time, being crowned Diamond League champion the previous two years.

Linden Hall goes again in the 1500m after her PB in Silesia with work to do to make sur she finishes top 10.

Cameron Myers will not compete in the mens 1500m, but looks to be safe in his current 7th spot, given there's only 3 men in the race who could pass him on points.

Australia's record year at the Diamond League

So if all goes well for the Australians over these next two meets we could see ten athletes qualifying for the Diamond League final this year in Zurich 27-28 August, which would equal 2023 as the most ever.  It has already been a record year in terms of most number of Australians competing at a Diamond League and scoring points, the most total points scored in a year and the most number of podiums.

Update 16th August

Athletes who have Qualified

In the women's high jump, it will be no surprise that Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers have qualified. This will be Patterson's 3rd final (best 4th in 2024) while Olyslagers has competed in every final since 2019 (two seconds & two thirds).

You wouldn't think this was Liam Adcock's debut Diamond League year - he took 2nd in Xiamen and then a stunning last jump win in Rome to lead the long jump standings where he's remained.

Kurtis Marschall vaulted his first DL final in 2018, but his second wasn't until 2023.  He goes again looking to improve on the 4th two years ago.

By my calculations Sarah Billings has qualified for the 800m final, based on the startlist running in Lausanne where only three athletes can pass Billings who currently sits in 5th so will finish in the top 8.

Silesia 16th August

There's a number of non Diamond League events on the program in Silesia in which Australians are competing.  While non-point scoring they are of interest regarding form in the lead up to the World Championships.

In the 3000m Jessica Hull will be pacing Faith Kipyegon's World Record attempt.  Given Georgia Griffith's current form it wouldn't surprise if she gives her own Australian record of 8:24.20 a scare.  Rose Davies & Lauren Ryan also racing the 3000m in what could be a historic event.

The other non-scoring track event for Australians is the 800m where Abbey Caldwell & Claudia Hollingsworth, both already selected for the World Championships. The third spot for WCH 800m is still up for grabs, and this is the last chance for Catriona Bisset to make a strong claim with a sub-2 minute performance. 

On the Friday there will be three non-scoring events in the Katowice town square including a high jump in which Nicola Olyslagers is competing.

So what of the scoring events? 

With a finals birth already locked, Kurtis Marschall goes in the pole vault with freedom to test the limits.

Which leaves the 1500m events where points will be crucial.  Sarah Billings and Linden Hall compete in the womens event. Hall is the 3rd most prolific Australian at the Diamond League, just behind Stewart McSweyn and Ryan Gregson, and closing in on 50 appearances - a phenomenal record.  She'll need all her experience to navigate this highly competitive field, and needs good points here and in Brussels to qualify for the final (currently 16th).  Likewise for Billings who is currently 11th, but may decide to focus on the 800m after this meet.

In the mens, Cameron Myers is currently 6th and will be looking for good points to protect this position to stay top 10.  Oliver Hoare also goes in the 1500m and while he is out of finals contention, would love to go sub-3:30, as will Myers. Is Hoare's Australian record (3:29.41) under threat?

Lausanne 20th August

Seven Australians currently listed to compete in what are all scoring events.  Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson down for the high jump which is the last before the Zurich and with 7 of the top 10 in the world competing, and an important competition before World Championships. Of her 34 DIamond League appearances, Olyslagers has finished on the podium 28 times, an incredible conversion ratio, and the most podiums of any Australian.

Another guaranteed finalist, Liam Adcock, will compete in the long jump.  Currently ranked 5th in the world, he competes against those ranked 1-4, so would love to make a statement before the DL final and the World Championships. 

Kurtis Marschall vaults the day before in a city pole vault event.  With no Duplantis listed, it gives a chance for Marschall (ranked #4 in the world), to perhaps grab the win.

The women's javelin is where it gets really interesting with Mackenzie Little currently 7th.  To move into 6th and grab a finals spot, Little needs to finish at least 6th and beat one of Ruiz Hurtado or Sietina.

Recovered from injuries, Jack Rayner goes in the 5000m (with Jude Thomas pacing), and will be keen to make advances back to his sub-13 minute form. 

Brussels 22nd August

No startlists yet for Brussels, but the following events will impact Australian finals possibilities.

Men

Discus: we're likely to see Matt Denny return who sits 3rd and as good as qualified.

High Jump: if Yual Reath (currently 10th) can get an entry he'd likely need to finish top 3 to have a chance of a final's birth

1500m: depending what happens in Silesia likely Cameron Myers will still need to protect his finals position.

Women

1500m: depending on Silesia Linden Hall and possibly Sarah Billings could still be in the mix.  Jessica Hull may need to run to ensure her finals spot.

5000m: Linden Hall is also currently 9th for the 5000m based on her 3000m win in Stockholm. Has World Champs qualifying standards for both 1500m & 5000m, but four others do in each event, so no certainty on which event Hall will be competing in at World Championships until after 24th August which makes her choice difficult.  Rose Davies currently sits 13th for the 5000m, but only 1 point from 10th & 3 points from 6th.