Aussie women shine on world stage with Diamond League podiums
It’s not even her main event, but Sarah Billings still came within touching distance of an Australian record with her podium finish in the Diamond League.
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.
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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 💎🔥… pic.twitter.com/X6ukB1HXmT
— 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.
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“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.
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