Joseph Ayoade

The countdown has well and truly started as athletes tailor their preparations depending on their next target.

This weekend we have plenty of domestic highlights stemming from the two days of the Adelaide Invitational action (Friday & Saturday evenings) as well as the Australian Half-Marathon Race Walking Championships (Sunday morning).  See below for a preview of these meets.

Overseas some of the Australian contingent competing in the NCAA (almost 100 in total at last count) are focused on the NCAA National Indoors this weekend, with details for Div I and Div II finals on our website.  Another group are spending the weekend in Italy for the World University Cross Country Championships.

And things don’t slow down next week. The Australian team has been selected for the World Indoors Championships in Poland.  While relatively small, the team of eleven boasts seven international medallists and two debutants.

Then two weeks from now we get to visit / watch the super-exhilarating Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne with plenty of big names competing.

A lot of athletes will clearly be aiming to peak at the Australian Championships in Sydney, only one month from now.  With Australian titles, as well as Commonwealth Games selections on the line, there’ll be strong fields as well as the excitement of competing on the new Sydney track.

The week after that the juniors have their own Australian U20 Championships in Brisbane.  With over 100 athletes now having achieved a World U20 standard in their event, the selection trials will be high stakes, with first two on the podium getting the automatic selection in the majority of the events.

And no respite for some after this.  World Relays are in seven weeks, and the first China Diamond League (Shanghai) in nine weeks.  Then it will be interesting to see who makes the trip to Darwin for the Oceania Championships, ten weeks from now, where the points on offer can have a big impact on an athlete's world ranking.

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are just over four months away, with the World U20 Championships a week after.  Six months away from the World Ultimate Championships In Budapest, a week after which there is the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen.

Despite some saying this is an “off” year for athletics, that’s an awful lot of major international championships to prepare for.  For now a preview of some of this weekends activity:

NCAA National Indoor Finals

Australian podium success at the NCAA National Indoor Championships (Div I) has come relatively recently - with David McNeill & Ryan Fosters' podiums in 2010 likely the earliest.  Success has been solely in the distance events - which makes Eddie Nketia's participation in the 60m finals this weekend of note, also given his transfer of allegiance from New Zealand to Australia in late in 2025.

The top ranked Australian going into these champs is Hayley Kitching in the 800m (ranked #2) - the last victory by an Australia at NCAA Indoors was Charlie Hunter in the men's 800m in 2021.  Tomas Palfrey has a busy weekend having qualified for the mile and 3000m, and will join his college's distance medley relay (DMR) team. Thomas Diamond also goes in the mile and the DMR, with other possible DMR team members: Imogen Gardiner, Ben Thomas, Bailey Habler & Archie Noakes.

In the Div II finals, Bec Bennett is ranked #3 in the 400m and Harrison Boyd #4 in the mile (adjusted for altitude time). Flynn Pumpa will run the mile and likey the DMR.  Good to see some field athletes qualifying with Amber Lawless in the Shot Put and Isabella Davie in the Pentathlon.

Australian Half Marathon Race Walking Championships

These Championships are the main selection trials for the World Race Walking Team Championships to be held in Brasilia, 12th April.

In the U20 events up to three athletes can be selected.  For the junior men, 10000m race walk world record holder Isaac Beacroft would be expected to take the title, with the next two spots to be fought out amongst Owen Toyne, John Ronan and Riley Coughlan who all have the time standard.

In the junior women's Zoe Woods will go in as favourite but Sienna Pitcher and Milly Sharpe will push hard, and all three have the standard.

In  the senior events up to five athletes can be selected (with three scoring in the teams event).  While Jemima Montag is absent, the women have strong representation with Rebecca Henderson, Elizabeth McMillen, Olivia Sandery and Allanah Pitcher all under the time standard.  Sandery has the edge over the longer distances, and won the Marathon Championship in November, while McMillen and Henderson have tended to battle out the shorter races.  This will be a fascinating contest.

As to will be the men's half marathon.  Rhydian Cowley comfortably won the Marathon Championship, but over the shorter distance Timothy Fraser and Declan Tingay make it more competitive. Will Thompson and Kyle Swan will be in the mix and also have the standard.

Adelaide Invitational

The third event of the Summer Series sees some fascinating head-to-heads and an important hit-out for many athletes in the lead up to the Maurie Plant Meet and then National Championships.

On the track …

We’ll start with the end of the program feature event, the men’s 200m, with an exciting match-up between Australia’s two fastest men currently over the 400m: Reece Holder (44.53) and Aidan Murphy (44.81).  Murphy has a faster PB than Holder over 200m (20.41 to 20.48), although to be fair Holder has likely never raced a ‘feature’ 200m event where there’s added incentive to perform.  They’ll be joined by World Championship 400m finalist, Jacory Patterson (USA), as well as recent National 200m record-breaker, Tommy Te Puni (NZL).

In the 100m races, a number of athletes are backing up after the relay teams competed on Friday.  Jacob Despard, Christopher Ius and Josh Azzopardi from the winning Green team (in 38.34) face off against Connor Bond & Joseph Ayoade from the Gold team which unfortunately was a dnf.

In the women’s 100m, Ebony Lane, Olivia Rose Inkster & Chloe Mannix-Power from the winning Green team (43.37) encounter the fastest woman in Australia this year, Zara Hagan (11.16), along with Olivia Hastings and Georgia Harris from the Gold team (44.06)

Exciting to see Jemma Pollard and Ellie Beer have their second head-to-head this year over 400m, with the last one in Perth resulting in Pollard being pushed to a new PB in order to take the win.

In the men’s 400m, Luke van Ratingen will take the start-line for the first time this season, bolstering the talent pool before the World Relay Championships. He has some stiff international competition from Kyle Gale (BAH) and National record-holder Lex Revell-Lewis (NZL).

Also taking the start-line for the first time this season is sub-2 minutes athlete, Carley Thomas in the women’s 800m, where she faces two athletes who have seen many start-lines this season in Abbey Caldwell and Jaylah Hancock-Cameron. Also watch the match-up in this race between the juniors, with Ivy Boothroyd who had a breakthrough PB in Hobart and will race again against her main junior challenger in Emma Fryga.

In the men’s 800m, Australian 2024 Champion Luke Boyes takes on the leading junior talent Daniel Williams, who has his eyes set on the World U20 Championships.  Williams also has his eyes on a stint in the NCAA with Penn State University, to be coached by former Australian record-holder in the middle-distance events, Ryan Foster.

Speaking of the NCAA, there’s an alumni match-up in the men’s 1500m, between Alexander Stitt, Jackson Sharp, Jesse Hunt and Toby Gillen, the lead contenders. Again there’s the race within the race with a host of quick juniors competing. Charles Barrett has recently been successful in staying ahead of Alexander Cameron-Smith and Lucas Chis, but will this continue?

Another NCAA alumni, Klara Dess, starts favourite in the women’s 1500m and faces a number of junior women including New Zealand’s Scarlett Robb, and Australian juniors Milla Roberts and Sarah Baker, with local Hannah Tourneur in the mix. Another local to watch is 15-year-old Amelia Sheridan, too young to qualify for this year’s World U20 Championships, but running under the standards anyway.

Last night saw the women’s 3000m Steeplechase with a win to Cara Feain-Ryan (9:34.89) and Tessa Ebert grab a PB and another World U20 qualifier (10:05.26).  In the men's race today a strong Japanese contingent are likely to maintain a fast pace which Ed Trippas and Ben Buckingham will look to benefit from.

Ashley Moloney takes on his second 400m hurdles event, after the Hobart debut where he showed how difficult it is to get the pacing right between hurdles.  Despite this he still ran a very respectabke 52.70, and sub-50 second man Matthew Hunt will know if Moloney’s close after the last hurdle he’ll be storming home fast.

To the field …

Those in Adelaide get to the meet early, because you’ll see that 70 metre mark in the discus get well and truly peppered.  Matthew Denny of course will be partly responsible but he’s joined by two international throwers who can get the disc out there, regular visitor to Adelaide, Lawrence Okoye (GBR) and Claudio Romero (CHI).  Darcy Miller and Etienne Rousseau will look to use this strong competition to crack the 60 metre mark.

Taryn Gollshewsky also has international company, Nanaka Kori (JPN) and Nora Monie (CMR), who have both thrown over 60 metres and will provide strong competition for Gollshewsky.  There will be a close competition between the juniors, with Chelsy Wayne, Jessica Johnston and Lauren Kelly all boasting PBs around the 52 metres mark.

A classic match-up in the women's long jump with Australian record-holder Brooke Buschkuehl on the come-back trail, up against the World U20 Champion Delta Amidzovski.  In Melbourne last month, Amidzovski took an early lead but Buschkuehl was gaining in her last few jumps – keep an eye on this contest as it unfolds.

In men's pole vault, while they have the same PB (5.53m), the last time Aiden Princena-White beat Dalton di Medio was in Adelaide two years ago. Could history repeat?

Shemaiah James has made it his quest this year to break his long-standing triple jump PB of 16.42m – will today be the day?  He’ll have Connor Murphy to provide strong competition, along with fellow 16 metre jumpers, Liam Glew and Awan Akuen.  In the women’s triple jump on Friday, Desleigh Owusu recorded another solid win (13.43m +1.1). 

Other meetings

That's a solid offering of athletics for this weekend.  We also have the FISU World Cross Country with a 16-member team competing (will link the livestream if we find one).  There's also the Queensland State Championships with some interest in the sprint events (results can be found here)

Enjoy!

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! 

This article will give rolling updates focused on those athletes trying to qualify and what they need to do over these next few weeks. We’ve done the work on trackathletes.au to provide all the latest information on the events in which they will be competing, as well as when and how you can watch them, track results etc. so enjoy!

20th August

For an update on the Diamond League meets and who's in the mix to make the Diamond League final you'll find an article here

As well as Lausanne Diamond League we also have a couple of other meets occuring.

After coming agonising close to getting the World Championships standard the other week, Ben Buckingham has one last 3000m steeplechase to make another attempt, along with nine other standard-hungary athletes at the BMC Tooting meet (5.30am aest)

A number of athletes are attracted to Pfundstadt in Germany, as the track has a reputation for fast middle distance times.  For some this is a last ditch effort to jag a World Championships standard (Tess Kirsopp-Cole & Carley Thomas in 800m, Jack Anstey over 1500m), others will be looking to make a final impression on selectors (Georgia Griffith & Oliver Hoare over 1500m), while others are using it as a hitout before the Championships (Abbey Caldwell 800m, Lauren Ryan & Maudie Skyring 1500m)

Many others are now playing the waiting game.  Those on the cusp of qualification through quota places (listed on this page) will be looking at the new Road To Tokyo list when it comes out Thursday morning aest.  

Each event has its own story as to how this may pan out.  For example for the women's 10000m, where two Australians sit just within quota (Rose Davies, Isobel Batt-Doyle), the paucity of events, as well as the tough standard, goes in their favour.  For those on the cusp in 200m, 400m and long jump there's more likelihood someone from a National Championships may boost their points.

Take Seth O'Donnell as an example.  By my calcualtions he sits 41st out of 42 in the 5000m with an average of 1226 points (his last event was after the RTT cut-off last week). Most of those below him will have a tough task getting the required points from Category F meetings which is all that remains and in which first place only gets 15 points.  Basically they have to run the standard (13:01), or close to, which is equivalent to 1207 points.

However two athletes below Seth are running in Lausanne Diamond League with big points on offer. If Filip Ingebrigtsen (NOR) runs a SB (13:12) he needs to finish 6th or better.  Similarly for Jonas Raess (SUI), he needs to finish 9th or better with a SB (13:12). However Raess also potentially has the Swiss Championships on the weekend, a Cat B event, which gives him a good point scoring opportunity.

So if Seth drops below 42nd he needs to hope there's people in the list who will not compete (injured / unavailable) or not selected.  Seth may also look for a Cat F meet on the weekend to see if he can improve his points - this would require a sub-13:12, a PB.

Plenty to watch out for as the qualification period comes to a close, get your calculators ready!  Ranking tables updated Thursday morning.

16th August

Three big meets on this evening which will have ramifications for both World Championships qualification, as well as Diamond League finals qualification.  You can watch all meets on free youtube livestreams from 11pm aest - check the "Next Broadcast" section.

Silesia Diamond League (Poland)

The highlight is Faith Kipyegon's world record attempt over 3000m, which Jessica Hull will be pacing into the latter stages. Also three Australians racing, and 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 following their big 5000m PBs, will be looking to do similar over this distance.

Abbey Caldwell & Claudia Hollingsworth are racing the 800m, for which they have both been selected for the World Championships. The third 800m Australian spot is still up for grabs and this is the last chance for Catriona Bisset to make a strong claim with a sub-two minute performance.

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

Sarah Billings & Linden Hall compete in the 1500m. 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 will be looking to impress the selectors who have to chose two athletes from four qualified (Hull, Hall, Griffiths, Caldwell).  Billings is already selected for the 1500m following her second at Nationals and performances over the summer, and will be looking to sharpen her form.

In the mens 1500m, Cameron Myers & Oliver Hoare race, with Hoare's Australian record (3:29.41) under threat. Myers will also be keen to protect his current DL standing (6th) so he is eligible for the final (top 10).

Meeting voor Mon (Belgium)

There's a theme across all three meets this evening - Australian 800m women racing for the third WCH spot.  In Belgium Tess Kirsopp-Cole & Carley Thomas racing with both looking to break the two minute barrier, with sub 1:59 the WCH standard.

Alanah Yukich sits in a relatively 'safe' 34/40 quota place for WCH and will be looking for a strong performance, ideally sub-55 seconds which would be a PB, with 54.65 the WCH standard.

After his stunning National Record and WCH qualifier over the steeples, Ed Trippas has decided to reward himself with a flat 1500m and will be joined by Matthew Ramsden & Jackson Sharp, whose 1500m PB (3:36.82) looks tenuous given his last two races have been PBs (5000m/3000m).

Maudie Skyring also stepping down to the 1500m, while Danielle Shaw goes over the 100m hurdles.

CITIUS Meeting (Switzerland)

Crunch time for Michelle Jenneke.  Her qualification hinges on getting the standard (12.73) which she has been getting so close to - a windy 12.75 (+2.4), and then last week a wind legal 12.81 (+1.6).

Continuing the 800m theme, this meet sees Bendere Oboya go again over the distance.  Assuming Hull & Billings who both have the 800m standard will focus on the 1500m and not try the double, Oboya is the next fastest this year of the athletes in contention, having gone sub-two minutes three times.

In the men's 800m Peyton Craig races, three days after his 1:44.24 in Hungary showed he's building into top form - could his first sub 1:44 be on the cards?

Exciting to see Rohan Browning joining the relay team, racing a 4x100m alongside Joshua Azzopardi, Calab Law & Jacob Despard.  A second team of Connor Bond, Josiah John, Christopher Ius & Joseph Ayoade also racing.

13th August

Quick update to answer two questions:  Why is tonights race so important for Seth O'Donnell?  and What are all those sprinters doing in Fribourg?

Seth O'Donnell has a crucial race this evening in Finland (2.05am aest).  After Seth's stunning 3000m in Sweden he now has a real chance of nabbing a qualifying quota place for the World Championships 5000m, given he sits 43rd currently, with 42 athletes qualifying. The problem is he's running out of good category meets. 

Hence why, three days after Sweden, he's racing a 5000m at Motonet GP (Cat. D ) in Oulu. Going in his favour is there's not strong competition (the next best PB is 13:40 compared to Seth's 13:14), so he's a strong chance to pick up the 35 points for 1st.  The downside is without the competition he'll be flying solo.  Assuming he comes first, then he needs to run sub 13:25 to move up to 41st spot, and a PB 13:14 would see him move to 38th.

It's a tough ask, but then Seth's a renowned front runner, and ran a solo 13:22 in March this year at the Hagenauer Reserve, Box Hill.  Go Seth!

If you look at the Fribourg International meeting startlists, there's something of an Aussie takeover with 14 athletes competing, including 10 sprinters. The women sprinters listed, Ella Connolly, Georgia Harris, Bree Rizzo & Leah O'Brien (first race since Nationals) look suspiciously like a very decent relay team, and surprise surprise, there's a women's 4x100m relay listed for Lausanne Diamond League (20-Aug).  This will be the last chance for other countries to knock Australia out of its current qualifying spot based on a time of 42.48.  Hopefully this means we'll have a team racing to ensure Australia goes to this World Championships with all relay teams qualified.

Also competing at Fribourg are Abbey Caldwell & Alanah Yukich, in what looks like a practice of the heats/finals pressure of World Champs with both also racing in 3 days time.  Ellie Sanford & Carley Thomas listed to race the 800m with Abbey. 

12th August

What a weekend of highlights ... hard to keep up!

Australia has been so well represented by a trio of men chasing the steeples for the last five years and it seemed any one of them was a possibility of breaking the long-standing record of Shaun Creighton's from 1993.  As is the way of athletics, the moment gets condensed into a single race, all three run PBs, two go under the 8:16.22 mark and Ed Trippas is the one to fill in the new record application form with his 8:13.15 in Belgium.  All credit goes to Ben Buckingham & Matthew Clarke who are very much part of that journey.

Lauren Ryan's incredible times over 10,000m, including breaking a 21-year national record, plus her shorter distance speed, suggested a 14:45 5000m was well on the cards.  She came up trumps at Oordegem with 14:40.39, a 15 second PB and World Champs qualifier, adding to the matrix algebra that selectors have to compute to select a women's distance team.

A number of Australian athletes have been managing injuries given the extended duration of this season, and good to see Torrie Lewis make a 'recovered' statement with a sensational double at the Category B meet in Slovakia, running her 2nd best ever times in both the 100m & 200m for the wins.  Another on the injury recovery journey, Michelle Jenneke, is getting oh so close to that 12.74 qualifier - running a (legal) SB of 12.81 (+1.6).  Cooper Sherman also made an impressive return, almost posting a 400m PB with 45.51 for 4th.

Men's distance continues to excite.  Seth O'Donnell matches it with a couple of seriously elite sub-12:50 5000m runners to grab 2nd over 3000m in a 30 second PB (7:34.03), #5 Australian all-time.  With a good 5000m in the next couple of weeks he could move into a qualifying quota place. Jackson Sharp & Toby Gillen showed there's plenty more running post their recent NCAA careers, both posting handy 5000m PBs, while NCAA graduates & ON team mates Ky Robinson & Oliver Hoare battled it out for 1-2 in the Sir Walter Miler mile, with Ky grabbing the win & PB 3:50.80 

Sestriere is a reknowned downhill skiing resort, and sprinters must also feel have a downhill sensation with the 2000m+ altitude and (fairly) reliable tailwind.  Kristie Edwards and Mia Gross took advantage posting sub-23 second 200m, although the 100m sprinters unusually faced a headwind in their final.

Preview Gyulai István Memorial / Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix starts 13-Aug 1.30am aest

Another who's revelling in his return to the track is Chris Mitrevski with six comps since July, producing 3 wins, a 2nd & 3rd.  He goes again early tomorrow morning (2am aest) in an elite field of World Champ hopefuls. A good performance will help solidify a qualifying quote place.

Georgia Griffith is down to race in the Silesia Diamond League Kipyegon-world record 3000m attempt in four days, so perhaps is using the 1500m tomorrow morning (1.53am) to get race sharp after a training block in the hills.  Kurtis Marschall is also competing in both, as are the daunting trio of Duplantis-Karalis-Kendricks.

Others you can watch on the World Athletics livestream tomorrow morning: Peyton Craig in the 800m (1.44am), Brandon Starc high jump (1.20am), with Stewart McSweyn & Jackson Sharp going over 3000m (2.45am) 

Action continues the next morning with a swag of Aussie sprinters in the Fribourg International Meeting from Switzerland

9th August

Update to 'Road to Tokyo'

Outcome from Thursday's update was always going to see Australian's slide a bit given the number of National championships being held although it was perhaps not as significant as expected.

Slipping just outside qualifying quota spots were Murphy (200m), Whelan (HJ), Amidzovski (LJ) and Newton-Smith (Hept.).  At the moment we don't have them listed to compete in the next few weeks - so they would then rely on the the 'roll-down' ie athletes above withdrawing, so they move back into a qualifying spot.

There's still a few Nationals coming up as well as the regional NACAC Championships which provides big points.  So those just inside qualifying will need to protect their points: Law & Milat (200m), Sherman (400m), Dale (LJ), Clarke & Cashin  (3000m SC).

On the positive, Davies and Batt-Doyle remain just inside qualifying spots in the 10000m, and Connolly (200m) & Davidson (JT) limited the fall with good performances in Poland. Mitrevski has also jumped into a qualifying spot with big 8.08m and win in Serbia.

This weekends possibilities 

While the focus is on those athletes attempting to qualify through a quote place, we did see Robinson & Hoare race a mile in the US, and Lewis get two good wins in Slovakia, with Starc finishing 4th - these athletes all have the standard or are in a 'safe' qualifying spot.  Bisset ran an 800m in Poland, finishing 4th in 2:02.70 - needs the 1:59 standard which is very posible on her day.

Belgium tonight (9/10th Aug) is a highly competitive event so place points will be at a premium.

Cooper Sherman back in Europe currently 47/48 in the 400m - needs 1200+ to jump to 45th, which means close to his PB (45.26) & good place points
Ella Connolly ran 100m SB in Poland, sits 52/48 - like Cooper needs close to PB + place points
Women's 800m is intriguing - three women (Tess Kirsopp-Cole, Ellie Sanford, Carley Thomas) potentially vieing for the 3rd 800m spot are racing each other, while Bendere Oboya, the other one in contention, is listed to run the 400m. All are 'qualified' but if one can get the standard (1:59) that would catch the sleectors eye.
There's also a 'race off' in the men's 3000m SC with Ed Trippas, Matthew Clarke and Ben Buckingham.  Clarke (34/36) needs to protect his spot - another SB (under 8:23) could see him jump a couple of spots. Trippas & Buckingham have dropped down the list and so their hopes of qualification probably revolve around the standard - it's 8:15 which would also be a new Australian record.
Speaking of 'race off's the hurdlers are out in force again, with Mitchell Lightfoot, Jacob McCorry, Celeste Mucci, Liz Clay, Michelle Jenneke all down to compete. The standard looms large for all (men 13.27, women 12.73) except Clay who with a sub 13 secs & top 8 could improve her 34/40 position.  Jenneke is ranked #1 & Clay #4 in this field on PBs.
A number are entered for 1500m & 5000m events, but only Maudie Skyring is qualified (with the standard) and sits 4th on time behind Davies, Griffith & Hall.  Depends how 1500m selections pan out re Griffith/Hall re the 5000m, but Skyring may be looking to go under Hall's time (14:43.61) to put herself 'ahead'.

A few events early morning 10-Aug. In Germany ​​​​​ Eleanor Paterson and Yual Reath jumping.  With Patterson already selected and Reath in a 'safe' qualifying spot this is a tune up for Diamond League meets (Patterson qualfied for final, Reath potentially still can) and the World Championships.  Liam Fairweather is long jumping in Italy.

Over the weekend Tori West is making a last ditch effort to qualify through a heptathlon event in England after withdrawing from the previous event in France due to injury.  A tough ask as she needs a PB score, but just getting close could see her grab a spot on the 'roll-down'. 

Updates to come for Sestriere, Italy (exciting to see what Torrie Lewis can run at altitude), and Sollentuna, Sweden - both early Monday morning. 

5th August

Hard to believe a year ago we were entranced with the magic of the Olympics and the wonderful performances of the Australian athletics team on the track and in the field.

Still over 5 weeks to wait until the Tokyo World Championships action begins, but the excitement is already building.  Over the next three weeks it comes to something of a mini-crescendo with the cut-off for qualification being 24th August.

There’s 24 athletes selected already and 26 athletes with the World Championships standard – these are listed on the website here.  Not all those with the standard will be selected (maximum 3 athletes per event, deciding not to compete in that event, not currently competing etc). 

With a focus on the athletes that are trying to qualify through the quota place system here's an explainer on how that works.

There’s a big update to the “Road to Paris” (RTP) coming out Thursday (7th) morning AEST which will incorporate the results of the various National Championships that were held over the weekend.  So best to wait for that before doing a full review. 

However there’s a couple of meets early tomorrow morning that have implications, so here’s a summary of what to look for:

Amy Cashin racing a 2000m Steeple in Montreal – sits precariously in 36th spot with max 36.  Safe to say Amy will beat her PB from 2008 (!) but needs around 6:10 with place points to boost her quota spot (Australian best is 6:09.48 Gregson 2019).

The other event tomorrow morning is the 8th International Wiesław Maniak Memorial in Poland.  A great swag of Aussie athletes competing, including Peyton (800m) already selected, Holder (400m) who has the standard and in a ‘safe’ quota place, Davidson (Javelin 21/36).  Also a surprise entry from Australian javelin record holder Kathryn Mitchell who hasn’t competed since the Olympics – likely the standard (64m) is out of reach (or is it?)

Those who are chasing qualification:

Mia Gross is ranked 37/48 for the 200m and needs sub-23 to boost her quota place. Is also running the 100m, along with Ella Connolly who has slipped outside a qualifying place (52/48) and needs sub-11.30 to boost her points.

Bendere Oboya is chasing the last 800m spot with Billings & Hollingsworth already selected.  Likely the favoured athlete at this stage and grabbing the standard (1:59) would confirm this.

A big turnout in the women’s 100m hurdles: Clay, Jenneke, Mucci & Shaw.  One of the most hotly contested events internationally this year, and Liz Clay has done well to be relatively ‘safe’ (32/40), but has a great chance to confirm this needing just sub-13.20 to improve.

Post-Olympics injury, Michelle Jenneke has done heroically well to run herself into sub-13 form.  Unfortunately is running out of high ranking meets to get the high place points (currently 52/40). Two wins in Cat C races with 12.85 would still not be enough to move into a qualifying quota place.  Therefore Jenneke’s best chance is to grab the standard (12.74), not out of the question given she recently ran a windy 12.75

Danielle Shaw & Celeste Mucci are similarly faced with the standard as their option for qualifying, as is Terrell Thorne in the 400m (45.00).  This would mean a PB for all of them so they’ll be hoping for something special.

A number of these athletes have further meets coming up - click on thir profile to see what other opportunities they have to qualify.