Abbey Caldwell

Biography

Abbey Caldwell’s last two years have been brilliant. In her breakthrough 2022 campaign, she won bronze in the 1500m at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and during the year sliced over three seconds from her 1500m PB and eight seconds from her 800m best.

In 2023 she won a bronze medal when anchoring the Australian 4x2km mixed gender relay at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships held in Bathurst in February. In Europe Abbey’s PBs continued with 1:58.48 over 800m and 4:20.51 in the mile. In August she was named in the Australian team in the 800m and 1500m for the Budapest World Championships, becoming just the second Australian women to compete in that double at the world championships. In Budapest she made both semi-finals. In the 800m she was Australia’s best, just one place and 0.06 seconds short of qualification for the final. In the 1500m she ran another PB 3:59.79 in the semi-final.

Abbey compiled a strong 2024 domestic season, placing second at Nationals in the 800m and at the end of the championships named in the Australian team to make her Olympic debut in Paris.

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Abbey began running when she was five at her local Little Athletics Centre. “I followed my two older brothers around, trying out every sport under the sun but found that the athletics track is where I enjoyed myself the most.” She particularly enjoyed the social aspect of athletics and considers it the reason she continued to be involved in the sport until she began having success.

In her teens, she was on national podiums and in 2018 embarked on selection for the World U20 championships that year. In early February she achieved the 3000m qualifier, but missed selection by one position. Six weeks later, still short of the 1500m qualifier, and in her last opportunity at the Nationals, she nailed the time and her second placed booked her selection. She was just outside her 1500m PB in the heats at the World U20 Championships in Finland.

Her neat ‘linear progression’ continued through 2019 and 2020. By 2021, she was now entering senior rankings – rather daunting for Abbey. She described the transitioning from juniors to seniors, particularly throughout COVID, as her biggest challenge. But she was spurred along by her progression in 2021, and a moment which could be described as a breakthrough.

“My performance at the 2021 National championships in the 1500m, at my first open national final resulting in second place behind Linden Hall, was the biggest eye-opener for me. It wasn’t necessarily the placing or the time that was so memorable, it was the point of realisation that I recognised my ability and that I was good enough to mix with the best. It was the turning point mentally for me where I realised I was capable of chasing all the big dreams I’d always had. This will always be the achievement where I unlocked my potential.”

She continued to slice seconds from her PB over the 2021/22 season, and at the 2022 Nationals, then just aged 20, was for many a surprise winner of the national 1500m title ahead of Olympians Linden Hall and Georgia Griffith. But for keen observers of the sport, it was her trajectory in the sport as devised by her coach Gavin Burren. Abbey described it as “a linear progression of performance since a young junior, which has allowed me to tap into new capabilities each year.”

Abbey’s best domestic time of 4:04.79 remained just short of World Championships and Commonwealth Games qualification, until May 19 in California she rectified that clocking a qualifying time of 4:04.18.

In June she was named in the 1500m for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she performed brilliantly, winning bronze in a world class field – claiming Australia’s second medal in the history of this event.

A week later she competed in her fifth 800m of the year and set her fourth PB in 2022 over the distance, clocking 1:59.31 to place fifth in the Monaco Diamond League.

Abbey made her summer season debut in January 2023 in one of the most anticipated races of the World Cross Country Australian team trials – the women’s 2km event. After tracking Jessica Hull for most of the race, with a few hundred metres remaining, Abbey took the lead, going on to win the race and secure her place in the Australian team in the 4x2km mixed gender relay for the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships to be held in Bathurst.

“It’s pretty exciting. I came in here not knowing what was going to happen. It’s the deepest field of distance runners I’ve seen in women’s for a long time and it was really nice to be a part of,” Caldwell said.

In Bathurst at the world cross country championships, she anchored the National team to bronze – her first global medal and her second major medal at consecutive championships, following her Commonwealth Games bronze.
Over the next couple of months on the track, she smashed out PBs and quality performances. In March she lowered her 800m PB to 1:58.62, to threaten the National record. She was second in the National 1500m to Jessica Hull, then at the Doha Diamond League sliced three seconds from her PB to clock 4:01.15, securing her world championships qualifier as she moved up to number five Australian all-time.

Abbey’s PBs continued in Europe with 1:58.48 over 800m and 4:20.51 in the mile. In August she was named in the Australian team in the 800m and 1500m for the Budapest World Championships. She become just the second Australian women to compete in that double at the world championships. In Budapest she made both semi-finals. In the 800m she was Australia’s best, just one place and 0.06 seconds short of qualification for the final. In the 1500m she ran another PB 3:59.79 in the semi-final.

Abbey full credits her recent performances to the plan by her coach Gavin Burren.
“I strongly believe that I can relate my recent performances to the approach my coach has taken with my development. With him encouraging me to have a linear progression of performance since a young junior, it has allowed me to tap into new capabilities each year. This has particularly shown for me since entering the open ranks where each race I tap into new abilities and see what I’m capable of. I have thrived on the style of competitive racing in opens and I think when I compare that to juniors it plays a big part too in my growth as a competitor on the track.”

Education: Bachelor of Health Sciences part time at Deakin University. Begun in 2020, 3rd year in 2022…Most influential person in your career: My coach Gavin. He has had such a positive impact on my career and not just as a coach. He has been my life mentor since I was 13 both on and off the track. He has always been the person to make sure I have a healthy life balance and has helped me recognise that I can work hard and still enjoy the process just as much…Hobbies: coffee, brunch and time with friends and family…Advice to your younger self: Make sure you enjoy the process and acknowledge all the wins along the way, no matter how big or small!

@ 3 June 2024 David.tarbotton@athletics.org.au