Six Paris Olympics medallists and the very best of a red-hot generation next headline a record Australian team of 88 for the upcoming world athletics championships in Tokyo.
Reigning Olympic pole vault gold medallist and defending world champ Nina Kennedy and high jump gold medal favourite Nicola Olyslagers are among the biggest names in a star-studded squad announced on Wednesday.
Schoolboy sprint sensation Gout Gout will make his senior global championships debut in the 200m as one of eight medallists from last year’s world juniors in Peru taking the big step up to the Tokyo squad.
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World junior long jump champ Delta Amidzovski also snuck into the team at the last moment.
The Australian team for the September 13-21 event is even larger than the 86-strong track and field outfit which wore the green and gold on home soil at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Heartbreak looms in the women’s 5000m with an appeal to decide which of Rose Davies, Linden Hall, Georgia Griffith and Lauren Ryan is cut from the three-woman entry.
It is unclear who missed out and lodged the appeal but Hall is already also in the 1500m, while Ryan is in the 10,000m.
Elsewhere, Australian marathon record-holder Andy Buchanan is giving himself until the last moment to prove his fitness after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his femur.
The schoolteacher feared the worst before coming to a compromise with his doctor to take a week off, returning to running on Tuesday.
The 2025 squad is peppered with genuine medal chances, none more so than Olsylagers, who sits atop the 2025 world rankings after setting a national record of 2.04m at last week’s Diamond League final in Zurich.
“This season has been a great build-up for Tokyo. I do want to do another personal best, but I haven’t put a limit on what that is because I want to trust God for the greater heights,” Olyslagers said.
“My life changed forever the last time I competed in Tokyo for the Olympics (when she won silver in 2021), so even sharing that stadium this time with my family and friends will be a moment I’ll never forget.”
After undergoing major hamstring surgery in April, Kennedy will be making her 2025 season debut in Tokyo, but still reckons she can challenge for a spot on the podium.
The only Paris Games medallist missing out this time around is walker Jemima Montag, who had hamstring surgery last week.
The most prominent athlete to miss out was reigning Commonwealth 1500m champ Olli Hoare, with Jude Thomas and Adam Spencer preferred alongside the pre-selected young gun Cameron Myers.
Despite the late withdrawal of sub-10 second man Lachlan Kennedy with a back injury, the sprint stocks are strong, headed by Gout in the 200m, evergreen Rohan Browning in the 100m and Torrie Lewis, who is doubling up in the women’s 100m and 200m.
For the first time ever, Australia will also be represented in all five relays — although Gout will only contest the individual 200m because school commitments this year meant he did not have time to join the relay program.
“We’ve witnessed a real shift, not just in performance, but in national relevance,” said Australian high performance boss Andrew Faichney.
“This team reflects that change. They’re world-class athletes with the results to match, but just as importantly, they’re carrying the momentum of a sport that has so much belief behind it.”
Australian world champions squad
Men
100m: Joshua Azzopardi, Rohan Browning
200m: Gout Gout, Calab Law, Aidan Murphy
400m: Reece Holder, Cooper Sherman
800m: Peter Bol, Peyton Craig, Luke Boyes
1500m: Cameron Myers, Jude Thomas, Adam Spencer
5000m: Ky Robinson, Jack Rayner, Seth O’Donnell
3000m steeplechase: Ed Trippas
High jump: Yual Reath, Brandon Starc, Roman Anastasios
Pole vault: Kurtis Marschall
Long jump: Liam Adcock, Christopher Mitrevski
Triple jump: Connor Murphy
Discus: Matthew Denny
Javelin: Cameron McEntyre
Marathon: Andrew Buchanan, Tim Vincent, Liam Boudin
20km race walk: Rhydian Cowley, Declan Tingay, Tim Fraser
35km race walk: Rhydian Cowley, Will Thompson, Mitchell Baker
4x100m relay: Joshua Azzopardi, Jacob Despard, Christopher Ius, Calab Law, Rohan Browning, Connor Bond
4x400m relay: Reece Holder, Cooper Sherman, Aidan Murphy, Thomas Reynolds, Terrell Thorne, Luke van Ratingen, Augustine Nketia Jr
Women
100m: Bree Rizzo, Torrie Lewis, Ella Connolly
200m: Torrie Lewis, Mia Gross, Kristie Edwards
400m: Ellie Beer
800m: Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth, Jessica Hull
1500m: Sarah Billings, Linden Hall, Jessica Hull
5000m: Rose Davies, Linden Hall, Georgia Griffith, Lauren Ryan (one to be omitted after appeal)
10,000m: Lauren Ryan, Isobel Batt-Doyle
100m hurdles: Liz Clay
400m hurdles: Sarah Carli, Alanah Yukich
3000m steeplechase: Cara Feain-Ryan, Amy Cashin
High jump: Nicola Olyslagers, Eleanor Patterson, Emily Whelan
Pole vault: Nina Kennedy
Long jump: Samantha Dale, Delta Amidzovski
Triple jump: Desleigh Owusu
Discus: Taryn Gollshewsky
Hammer throw: Stephanie Ratcliffe, Lara Roberts
Javelin: Mackenzie Little, Lianna Davidson
Marathon: Vanessa Wilson, Sarah Klein, Tara Palm
20km race walk: Rebecca Henderson, Elizabeth McMillen, Alexandra Griffin
35km race walk: Olivia Sandery, Henderson, Allanah Pitcher
Heptathlon: Camryn Newton-Smith, Tori West
4x100m relay: Ella Connolly, Kristie Edwards, Torrie Lewis, Bree Rizzo, Georgia Harris, Leah O’Brien
4x400m relay: Ellie Beer, Alanah Yukich, Mia Gross, Carla Bull, Jemma Pollard, Sarah Carli, Amelia Rowe
* Mixed 4x400m relay TBA from squad
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