Ellie Beer

BIOGRAPHY

Perseverance and patience by Ellie Beer has seen her in the last could of years emerge as a world class sprinter. After making her senior Australian debut at 16 at the world championships, her times plateaued until she was 21, but over the last two years she has complied a series of brilliant performances, won two global medals and clocked a series of quick 400m relay legs.

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Athletics and sprinting have been a feature of Ellie Beer’s family and therefore it was no surprise she has followed the family business. When Ellie was aged six she started Gold Coast Little Athletics and Nippers at Currumbin Surf Club, winning many state and national Beach sprints titles in her age. By 14, in 2017, she had already clocked 54.83 in the 400m and on the beach won the Australian under-14 flags and beach sprint titles.

With the Commonwealth Games set for her home city of the Gold Coast, she took a shot at selection. The just 15-year-old lined up in the Australian Championships/CG Trials in mid-February 2018 with a special support crew.

“My friends came to watch and one of my friend’s dads made up hats with ‘Only here for the BEER’ printed on them. It was pretty funny and they were pretty loud,” said Ellie. She placed seventh in the final in a PB 54.44.

In March 2018 she won the national U16 200/400m double and in December the national schools U16 200/400m double, closing the year with PBs of 23.94/53.55. In the 2019 summer she won the Australian U17 200/400m double, but her major achievement was winning the Brisbane Track Classic 400m in a 0.9 seconds PB time of 52.53 to become the fourth fastest U18 in Australian history.

Just 16, she was selected for senior international debut in the Australian team for the 2019 World Relays where she assisted the team to place fifth in the 4x400m relay final. Her selection in the Australian team for the September 2019 World Championships aged 16 years and 268 days, made her the youngest ever Australian selected for the championships. Clocking a flying split time of 52.0 seconds, Ellie helped the Australian team to 3:28.64 and qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. Domestically in 2021, now 18, she was consistently the second best in Australia behind world championships semi-finalist Bendere Oboya. Her second place at the national championship, secured her selection in the Australian Olympic team for Tokyo when she split 51.85 on her leg as the team placed seventh in their heat.

Post Tokyo, Ellie had a strong couple of years in 2022 and 2023. In 2022 she won the National senior title and placed seventh in the final of the 400m at the World U20 Championships.

Ellie’s 2024 campaign has been perfect as she makes terrific progress. Now aged 21, she started with a PB, breaking her, now five-year-old PB from 2019, clocking 52.25. She would go on to clock four consecutive PBs, including taking the National title in 51.59. She also ran second leg on the National 4x400m relay. After initially qualifying for the World Relay Championships during the domestic season, in May in the Bahamas, the National team came within one second of qualifying for the Paris Olympics clocking their fastest time for six years. Ellie ran two sub-51 seconds relay splits for the team.

In the leadup to her second Olympics in Paris, Ellie was brilliant, winning the Oceania title and a series of sub-52 second times. In Paris she continued that form with a PB in the 400m heats, clocking 51.47 seconds. Less than 24 hours later she competed in the repechage clocking 51.65 second in 4th place.

Ellie’s 2025 campaign has seen her get better and better. Winning her third national 400m title, she has twice broken her 400m PB, now down to 51.30. But it has been when running relays she has really shone. At the World Indoors in March, she led off the 4x400m relay team who would win bronze – her first global medal. In May she helped two Australian teams qualify for the 2025 world championships. Across 28 hours, she ran three 400m legs with flying split times of 50.28, 50.33 and 50.70. The quickest was the third fastest recorded by an Aussie behind Cathy Freeman and Michelle Lock.

On May 11 at the World Relays – Ellie ran two races in 1 hour 18 minutes:

• 19:45 women 4x400m relay (second leg 50.70) 3:27.31 – Fastest Australian time for 9 years and second fastest for 25 years.
• 21:03 mixed 4x400m relay silver medal (second leg 50.33) 3:12.20 – Australian record

Memorable sporting achievement: Winning her first Aussie Beach sprint title in 2017 and then in the same week winning the Australian U15 200m and 400m titles…..Influential: My coach Brett Robinson. I have been with him since I was young and he has been slowly building my program ensuring I don’t burn out. We have a long term plan…..Advice to your young self: Have fun, keep training hard, be positive and most of all be a good person…Trademark: I am known for my long socks. It started when I was young and my mum would put me in bright long socks so she could pick me out when I ran. Now they are a bit of a trademark and I never race without them…
Hero: My parents, they continue to inspire me everyday, whether it be supporting me, as well as so many other people. I want to be like them when I grow up…..Biggest challenge faced: Myself honestly. I can be my biggest challenge, whether it be the nerves before my race, to always worrying about what others think of me. Trying to get better with it, but my mind can be a challenge.

@3 Jul 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au