- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Yesterday, Athletics Australia released its team for the 19th edition of the World Athletics Championships. Today, we take a look at the middle and long-distance runners that will be representing Australia in Budapest next week as part of a team Athletics Australia’s head of high-performance called ‘…as strong as we have had for a very long period of time, if not ever.’
Peter Bol headlines a strong trio of runners taking on the 800m in Budapest. Finishing 4th at the Tokyo Olympics and 2nd at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Bol has been one of the premier 800m runners in the world for the past few years and is one of Australia’s best chances at a medal on the track. He will be joined by training partner and Australian record holder, Joseph Deng, and reigning Australian 800m champion Riley McGown. Both Deng and McGown will be making their World Championship debut in Budapest.
After a handful of DNFs earlier this year, Stewart McSweyn will be looking to reverse his fortunes as he attempts the 1500m/5000m double in Budapest. McSweyn has consistently proven himself amongst the best in the world, but after a long bout of illness derailed his last few seasons, he has struggled with consistency. Nevertheless, a few performances over the last 12 months have shone through, showing that when the stars align McSweyn is capable of being at the very front of the field. McSweyn will compete alongside a refreshed Matthew Ramsden, who has also experienced a disrupted couple of seasons due to illness, and Victoria’s Adam Spencer, who produced an astonishing 5-second PB last month in London to jump from 31st to 4th on the Australian 1500m all-time list.
Stewart McSweyn will be joined by OAC runner, Morgan McDonald. Both athletes have a long history not only with the 5000m, but with each other, first competing together at the Junior Australian 5000m Championships almost a decade ago. Since then, the pair has risen through the Australian distance running ranks and should both feature prominently during the 5000m in Budapest.
Catriona Bisset. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Catriona Bisset will headline the Australian 800m team. The 29-year-old comes into Budapest in the best shape of her life, breaking her own Australian record last month in London. Bisset will be joined by Abbey Caldwell, who is also coming off the back of a personal best last month that saw her move to 2nd on the Australian all-time list. Caldwell has enjoyed incredible success over the last two years after she shaved more than eight seconds off her best time between 2021 and 2022. The trio will be rounded out with World Athletics Championship debutant Ellie Sanford, who has raced the 800m 15 times this year alone, including setting a personal best at the Australian National Championships to finish second behind Bisset in April.
Arguably Australia’s best track runner of the modern era, Jessica Hull continues her search for her maiden individual global medal. Doubts were cast when she left Oregon in April to return to Australia without a coach, but these were quickly dispersed when in June she claimed three Australian records in the 1500m, mile, and 3000m, all in the space of just two weeks. She went on to improve her national mile record late last month by almost three seconds and will carry this phenomenal form into Budapest next week. Hull will be joined by Linden Hall, who bettered Hull’s 1500m record by 0.02 last month in Poland.
Jessica Hull (R) and Linden Hall (L) (Photo by Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
These two are the only women in Australian history to have run under four minutes for the 1500m and will both be expecting to finish towards the front in Budapest. Abbey Caldwell will look to complete the 800m/1500m middle-distance double, having set a three-second personal best earlier this year and sandwiching herself between Hull and Hall at the 2023 Australian 1500m Championships for silver. Of all the middle and long-distance events in Budapest, this is perhaps our strongest and all three of these athletes will be searching for a place on the podium.
Attempting the 1500m/5000m double, Jessica Hull is by far Australia’s best athlete over the distance. Since setting the Australian record back in 2020, she has not lost a race on home soil and has picked up two 5000m national titles in the process. Joining Hull will be defending Australian 10 000m champion, Rose Davies, who finished second behind Hull in the Australian 5000m Championships. Finally, World Athletics Championships debutant Lauren Ryan will toe the start line for Australia, coming off the back of a breakthrough personal best earlier this year.
Since competing in her fourth Olympic Games in Tokyo, veteran Lisa Weightman is still finding ways to improve. Running a personal best of 2:23 to move to number three on the Australian all-time list earlier this year, Weightman has once again proven why she belongs on the Australian team after 17 years representing the country. She will race at the World Athletics Championships alongside Isobel Batt-Doyle and Sarah Klein. Budapest will be Batt-Doyle’s fourth outing over the marathon distance, as she looks to continue her successful transition from track athlete to marathon star. Klein will make history as she becomes the first Australian woman to compete in three World Athletics Championship marathons, eight years after her inaugural selection in 2015 to race in Beijing.
Men
800m: Peter Bol, Joseph Deng, and Riley McGown
1500m: Stewart McSweyn, Adam Spencer, and Matthew Ramsden
5000m: Stewart McSweyn and Morgan McDonald
3000m Steeplechase: Matthew Clarke
Women
800m: Catriona Bisset, Abbey Caldwell, and Ellie Sanford
1500m: Jessica Hull, Linden Hall, and Abbey Caldwell
5000m: Jessica Hull, Rose Davies, and Lauren Ryan
Marathon: Lisa Weightman, Isobel Batt-Doyle, and Sarah Klein
3000m Steeplechase: Amy Cashin, Cara Feain-Ryan, and Brielle Erbacher