Australian Nationals: Day-by-Day preview and analysis
Angus Barnes | Apr 08, 2026
A wrap of this amzing Championships coming shortly
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Some updates from the track - I have seen Jessica Hull near the warm-up track so looks like she'll be running the 5000m. Unfortunately Kennedy is not running the 200m, and Liz Clay did not start in the 100m hurdles.
I raised the question below if there'd be an upset in the women's discus and Ashlyn Blackstock has indeed taken the title from Taryn Gollshewsky with a 5th round throw of 55.92m. Tricky conditions with the wind swirling at the moment.
Which also makes it hard for the long jumpers - but Delta Amidzovski and Brooke Buschkuehl are putting on a show of quality jumping - Delta leads by 3 cm currently with 6.62m. And then wow - Buschkuehl wins on her last jump - getting out to 6.67m.
In the 200m qualifying, last years champion Jessica Milat did not unfortunately qualify for the final. In the men's Gout Gout flew to a 20.11 (+0.4) win in his heat ... look out the 20 second barrier in the final.
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The last day of what's been a fascinating Australian Championships .. 17 finals to be contested:
In the field, a highlight will be the women's high jump, where two of Australia's greatest athletes going head-to-head, Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson.
In the women's long jump can Delta Amidzovski repeat her sensational jumping from the qualifying or can another great champion, six-time title holder Brooke Buschkuehl challenge her?
Women's discus see's another multiple title holder Taryn Gollshewsky go for her 6th title - can someone cause an upset
For the men, we have the 6-metre-man Kurtis Marschall vault for his 9th title.
The long jump has been a close contest this year, with Liam Adcock leading the way but Alex Epitropakis and Chris Mitrevski have showed winning form. Adcock & Mitrevski have been sharing the title the last four years - according to the pattern it's Mitrevski's turn.
The javelin throwers will need to navigate some tricky winds. Cameron McEntyre almost hit 80 metres in qualifying and will be hard to beat.
Alex Kolesnikoff since returning from the USA college system, has had some good battles with Aiden Harvey who is going for his fifth straight title - this will be a contest to watch.
On the track the we have men's steeplechase where Ben Buckingham has shown the best form this season, but you can't count out Australian record holder Ed Trippas.
Also jumping obstacles we have heats and finals for the 110m hurdles, and the final of the 400m hurdles, where Matthew Hunt goes in as favourite, but keep your eye on Ashley Moloney. Each race his stride pattern improves, and with a 45.82 best over the flat, if he's close towards the finish he'll be storming home.
A fascinating 800m final is in store and while Peter Bol is firm favourite, there is so much talent in this field that an upset wouldn't surprise.
Lachlan Kennedy and Gout Gout face off in the 200m. Can Kennedy do the double? - not done since 2016 (Alex Hartmann) and if successful Kennedy will be the youngest since 1999 when a 20-year-old Matt Shirvington took it out - he'll be trackside commentating this 200m and listen for the crowd as Gout makes his charge over the final 60 metres.
Speaking of doubles, how many women have completed the classic 800/1500m at the championships? Claudia Hollingsworth could join them but as with the men's 800m she faces a stacked field.
The heats of the women's 100m hurdles will help us see the form for the final, particularly that of Liz Clay who hasn't raced this year but blasted her best time last year to defeat Michelle Jenneke in the final. Sarah Carli goes in as strong favourite over the long hurdles.
Monique Hanlon hasn't lost a 200m race this year, and after her 4th in the 100m, you'd back her to keep the unbeaten record.
How the women's 5000m plays out depends to some extent as to whether Jessica Hull has recovered from the fall in the 1500m, and will toe the start line. Rose Davies' tactics could differ from her normal sit and kick if Hull's in the field.
... thoughts on yesterday to come ...
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In the field the women's javelin ended up being a close affair. Mackenzie Little gets the win 58.76m, but only 48cm ahead of Lianna Davidson, with Mackenzie Mialczarek another 81cm behind.
The men's high jump saw Roman Anastasios clear 2.20m on his first attempt to take his first title, Yual Reath second and Brandon Starc in his first comp back after injury third.
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More excitement on the track with the 100m & 800m semi-finals, 400m finals
In the women's 100m semis there'll be a few disappointed to miss the final, the Olivas (Rose Inkster, Hastings Dodds) all ran 11.73 but Inkster got the last time qualifier. Great to see Riley Day back in finals, and Georgia Harris ran a quick semi to put her into the mix.
In the mens 100m you'd think Lachlan Kennedy was saving something for the final tonight (but still ran 10.05), with others qualifying as expected with perhaps Alexander Colgan the surprise omission.
Qualifiers into the women's 800m final were as per the rankings. Klara Dess's qualification means she will not run the 5000m (was entered for the treble as well).
The men's qualification did not go to plan for Peyton Craig, making a blunder slowing towards the line without checking his opposition, and getting pipped for 2nd, and not making it as a time qualifier. Given four men already have the standard, and will race the final, Craig will have to do something super special time wise over the next 8 weeks to get discretionary selection. Alex Hanigan benefited from Craig's slip up and runs in the final his dad won in 1994 & 1998.
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The start of the evening session for Saturday ... and what a day it was Friday. Still digesting all the excitement, but when you find out the winner of the women's 1500m only a couple of hours ago then that's not surprising.
We saw a 19-year-old in Cameron Myers do something no one in the World has ever done - run sub 3:30 before May
We saw a 22-year-old in Lachlan Kennedy do something no one in Australia has ever done - run sub-10 seconds in Australia
And we saw Claudia Hollingsworth - who turns 21 tomorrow! - take our her second National open title, in unfortunate circumstances, but sets up a fascinating 800m final for tomorrow assuming all the leading contenders get through tonights heats.
Myers and Hollingsworth join the list from this weekends championships who are eligible for automatic nomination for the Commonwealth Games, with Kennedy joining tonight if he wins the title.
Who else could join them tonight? The men's 400m final has two with the CG standard, so if Reece Holder or Cooper Sherman win they get an auto-nomination. However given the form of Luke van Ratingen and Thomas Reynolds, they could also have an eye on cracking the 44.85 standard and a surprise win.
Unfortunately Jemma Pollard has scratched from the women's 400m final, but it will be a fascinating contest between Ellie Beer and Mia Gross - is the 50.75 standard within reach? - with Alice Dixon and Alexia Loizou looking to continue their PB form and perhaps score a surprise win.
In the field, Mackenzie Little has the standard so a win tonight will put her name forward. Lianne Davidson hasn't flown all the way from Georgia, USA for nothing so this will be a close contest, and Davidson has a PB over the 62 metre standard.
And how can we forget Nina Kennedy going in the pole vault final. She jumped the standard off her shortened run-up at Maurie Plant - will she extend the steps and use that momentum to push into the 4.80's?
We've already seen one final today - Men's hammer throw where the favourite took out the title - he's extended his PB to 71.21m this year, so will likely press for that 73 metre standard for the cut off (31st May)
The standard is not essential for selection (just for the auto-nomination at these Championships). In their discretionary selections, selectors can also look at how athletes are ranked in the Commonwealth. Yesterdays result in the heptathlon has set up an fascinating dilema. Australia already had 3 athletes ranked in the top 5 (Camryn Newton-Smith, Tori West & Emelia Surch). Mia Scerri's title win and point score will push her up close to Surch's ranking (Surch did not compete at the Championships due to injury). Will the selectors opt for trhee heptathletes, and then which three do they chose?
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Friday
Well ... that didn't turn out as expected! Jessica Hull tripped in the final straight as Claudia Hollingsworth tried to move out from the rail when the gap closed. Protests being discussed at the moment apparently ... and Hollingsworth is disqualified so Sarah Billings is the Australian 1500m Champion finishing 0.04 ahead of Abbey Caldwell, with Georgia Griffith 3rd.
But then the men's was more to script, with Cameron Myers completely dominant and Oliver Hoare perhaps finds that run he will feels better represents his training.
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The women's triple jump final has seen some great jumping with 3 women over 13 metres. Desleigh Owusu was a strong favourite and and jumped twice over 13.50m, with 13.58m her best to date. Tiana Boras got out to 13.21m on her second attempt and Chloe Grande 12.98m on her third, to be 3rd Australian.
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Stephanie Ratcliffe went into the hammer throw as firm favourite and took control of the comp with 67.71m on her third throw to take the title, with Lara Roberts finishing with 65.51m on her last. Ratcliffe's breaks through for her first senior title after winning three silvers.
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Watching Lachlan Kennedy run 10.03 (+0.3) on a cold night in Melbourne you thought there was something big to come. A warm evening in Sydney, a newly laid track, and very little breeze ... Kennedy open's his Championships sensationally with the first run under 10 seconds by an Australian in Australia ... 9.96 (+0.2) ... sensational!
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Women's heptathlon ends in a tense finish with Tori West opening a lead over Mia Scerri of over 4 seconds, and therefore hitting the front overall, but Scerri finishes strongly and ends up winning the contest by 13 points, with a big PB of 6175. West gets second 6162, and Camryn Newton-Smith third 5887
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The depth of Australian middle distance running is evident when watching the 800m preliminaries - large fields of unseeded athletes just trying to make the heats - racing in big packs, super competitive all the way to the line. 36 men have made the trip to Sydney to fight for the 12 spots, and 20 women for the 13 spots.
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Being at the track you pick up the vibe ... and there was definitely a vibe around those men as they assembled for the 400m heats. This final is going to be hot with all the big names through (save Murphy who's focused on the 200m) and good to see Zen Clark make the biggest final of his career.
Jemma Pollard leads the qualifiers in the women's heats, with Alexia Loizou and Alice Dixon continuing their good form after PBing this year.
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Been asking coaches and athletes what they think of the new track ... mostly positive but always good to have some evidence. In these men's 100m preliminaries there's been 17 PBs in the first 5 races - wind between +0.6 and +1.3. In Perth last year (the 'fastest' track in Australia) there were 9 PBs in first 5 prelims (wind +0.4 to +1.8) ... not solid stats by any means but definitely looks positive. Conditions also very good at the moment for the short sprint (with wind forecast to pick up next two days) so might be the night for Lachlan Kennedy to go for it?
For the women it was 11 in 2025 from 1st 4 prelims wind +0.7 to +1.4 and 10 in 2026 wind +0.8 to +1.6
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Shout out to the multievent coaches in Tasmania ... in the under 20 events, Bailey Van den Broek and Isabella Wing currently in 1st and 2nd in the heptathlon, and Xavier Davie leading the decathlon - all from Tasmania.
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Men's qualifying in long jump and javelin unfolding. Long jumpers are benefiting from a tailwind so quite a few have gone beyond the auto-Q mark of 7.70m, Liam Adcock got out to 8.12m (+3.8) first jump, Alex Epitropakis 7.85 (+1.0), Chris Mitrevski 7.84 (+1.4), Harrison Williams 7.77 (+2.2) and Mason McGroder 7.70m (+1.5). Javelin throwers are negotiating the tricky headwind so fewer with a big Q, Cameron McEntyre 79.27m, Howard McDonald 71.68m and Oscar Sullivan 70.80m. Neil Janse sits in 5th, with 10 to qualify.
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Qualifying for the women's long jump took a dramatic twist early on when Delta Amidzovski came out for her first jump and soared to 6.84m (+1.3) - her best by 22cm, a Commonwealth Games standard, and goes to #5 all-time Australian. Others have gone through directly to the final: Tomysha Clark 6.38m (+1.6), and Brooke Buschkuehl 6.37m (+1.7). There'll be another 7 to go through to the final 10:50am Sunday (on 7plus)
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The javelin in the Heptathlon about to start ... West has a PB of 53.97m, but best in comp 47.36m, Scerri has 38.78m PB (35.18m in comp). 10 metres equates to about 200 points
After two rounds West has thrown 46.72m and Scerri 37.32m which puts West just 57 points behind. If no improvement then it all comes down to the 800m, 57 points equates to about 4 seconds. West's in comp best is 4.5 seconds faster than Scerri's.
That's how it finishes. Scerri needs a sub 2:18 to get the 6200 standard, West needs a sub 2:14 which would be an overall PB, and Scerri needs to finish with four seconds of West to take the title. Don't miss the 800m, 7.05pm live CH7
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In the multievents, Lenny Robin led the decathlon after the first day with 3776 points, second Logoh Tligi & Connor Duggan 3rd Australian. They race over 110m hurdles first thing this morning
In the heptathlon the long jump has commenced, and what does Mia Scerri do first up - jump an PB of course, 6.30m (+1.0). Based on the current jumps, and using Scerri's overall PB for the javelin, the contest between her and West is now neck-and-neck with the forecast points saying only 2 points difference
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Arrived at the Sydney Olympic Athletics Stadium with its brand new two-toned track
A big day in store with the Heptathlon and Decathlon events concluding. Also finals for the 1500m, women's triple jump and hammer throw.
According to those who entered the Fantasy Nationals, there was universal support for Cameron Myers to win the 1500m, Desleigh Owusu the triple jump and Stephanie Ratcliffe the hammer throw. Jessica Hull was a clear favourite in the 1500m but a few also thought Claudia Hollingsworth could cause an upset.
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DAY 1: Blog ....
off to catch a flight hopefully
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Womens 1500m heats - 3 heats, first 3 qualify + 3 fastest
H1: Hollingsworth & Griffith through to final with Zoe Meluish, the fastest qualifier time to beat is 4:22.55
H2: Hull & Caldwell through, along with Thornton-Bott, with Klara Dess, who's also down to do the distance treble, currently with fastest non-Q time 4:18
H3: Billings, Ryan & Hancock-Cameron get the big Q, with Stephanie Kelly and Maddison Caulfield join Dess in the final via fastest times.
The main contenders in Women's Hammer and Men's discuss all look to have qualified to finals
Scerri jumped a PB 1.81m but has retired at 1.84m - hopefully not because of injury - she curently leads West & Newton-Smith who both jumped 1.75m.
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Flight was cancelled so unfortunately this is coming from the airport and not live ... looking at results on the screen not quite the same experience!
Multievents: Seems to be a couple of big names missing. Emelia Surch not competing in the Heptathlon and Ben Guse not in Decathlon
In the 100m hurdles Kajsa Souter and Tori West runs PBs, Souter's a big 0.2 improvement, while Newton-Smith just behind West. Mia Scerri, 4th in the last U20 Worlds, also PBed, and currently leads the high jump with an equal PB 1.78m - good start to attempt a first time 6000 point score.
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There's so much to unpack for the Australian Nationals this year, that its best consumed on a event-by-event and day-by-day basis ... so we'll be providing you with a preview of each day's events, updates during and after events and then end of day analysis ... tune in!
So the Australian Championships are upon us. We have a beautiful, two-toned, newly-layed track at Sydney’s Olympic Park to host the event. We have a sunny forecast, hot on Thursday & Friday, slightly cooler, but still sunny for the weekend. And we have some amazing athletes competing to do their best in what for many will be the pinnacle of their season.
For some it's about Australian titles and medals, and for a select few it's also a chance to put forward their names for selection to compete at the Commonwealth Games. With the team restricted to 63 athletes, there's lots of discretion in the selection process, with the only guarantee being for those who have achieved the standard (list here), competed at a summer series event and won the National title.
Thursday Preview
A short overview of what to expect on Thursday. The first day starts with qualifying rounds, preliminary rounds and the multi-events, where every event is like a final.
This will be a tough competition for the multi-eventers in the heat. In the women’s, Olympians Tori West and Camryn Newton-Smith face last year’s World Uni Games bronze medallist Emelia Surch. Surch has set a new heptathlon PB score every year since she started competing in the event, and is only 100 points behind Newton-Smith’s best, and 200 behind Wests. Expect this to be a fascinating event to follow and we’ll provide score updates, as well as forecasts of possible finishing scores along the way.
Benjamin Guse competes in the men’s Decathlon, the event he won at the World Uni Games last year posting an incredible 9 PBs out of 10 events. He appears to be a long way ahead of the competition in Sydney with Britain’s Sam Talbot and South Australian Logoh Tligi the likely ones to challenge him.
On the track we’ll see the 1500m heats, where the favourites will be keen to stay out of trouble and finish in the top six to qualify for Friday nights final. This is Jessica Hull’s first leg of her distance treble attempt. She has won the 1500m three times and the 5000m four times, and a win in the 800m would make her the first woman to achieve the treble, with only John Landy and Simon Doyle achieving it for the men. Georgia Griffith and Georgie Clarke are the only women to win medals in all three events.
Preliminary rounds for the 400m involve all but the top 15 seeds as they compete for a spot in the first round heats on Friday. The only other track event being a mixed 4x100m relay between the states.
A busy day in the field, with qualifiers in the women’s hammer and javelin, men’s discus and triple jump for both. Will be great viewing to see the two Australian hammer reps, and 70 metres plus throwers, Stephanie Ratcliffe and Lara Roberts launch the metal ball. Also of interest will be how Mackenzie Little goes in her first event since winning javelin bronze in last year’s World Championships, and US-based Lianna Davidson in only her second event of the season.
The men’s discus is missing Matthew Denny who’ll be launching his disc into the wind at ‘thrown town’ Ramona this weekend. In his absence Darcy Miller, Etienne Rousseau and Ethan Ayodele will look for strong qualifying, with Ayodele taking the title last year.
Men’s triple jump has been highly competitive this year with Connor Murphy, Shemaiah James and Awan Akuen sharing the wins over the summer. While in the women’s Desleigh Owusu had an unusual domestic loss to Isobel Louison-Roe, but in the absence of the junior athlete, looks to be a strong favourite for the final.
Keep an eye on this page for updates after each event – also the “quick updates” box on the home page for action as it happens.
For a bit of fun why not enter the Fantasy Nationals before 10am Thursday – predict the podium for 10 events of your choice and then cheer on your chosen athletes – entry form link here.
