Sarah Klein

BIOGRAPHY

Victorian Sarah Klein has been selected for her fourth world championships marathon in Tokyo in 2025, 10 years after her inaugural selection in 2015 to race in Beijing. Sarah placed a magnificent 14th at the 2022 world championships in Eugene.

+ + + + +

For over three decades, Sarah Klein has been in athletics. “I started Little Athletics when I was in under 7s and haven’t stopped since. My older siblings were doing it and being competitive, I wanted to beat them,” said Sarah. She joined Westernport Little Athletics and although the kids she raced were double her size and some twice her age, she still beat them.

Athletics wasn’t her only sport. “I played netball at quite a high level during school but eventually gave that away, I was better at running.”

In her early 20s she started to record some notable road performances. Eventually, aged 25 in 2013, she ran her debut marathon in Melbourne, clocking 2:42.53 for fourth place.

“I was aiming to run a good time but surprised myself with how well I did, and I got close to a Commonwealth Games B qualifier in my first attempt.”

Then in April 2014, she made further progress clocking 2:38.53 in the Rotterdam Marathon. It secured selection for her Australian debut at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she again ran a PB of 2:35.21 to place 10th.

She was selected for the 2015 World Championships marathon to be held in Beijing. In extremely warm conditions Sarah placed a remarkable 23rd, in an excellent time of 2:37.58 in the conditions.

Sarah’s next marathon was in 2018, in Berlin where she clocked 2:43.34. In 2021 Sarah was again on the move with PBs on the track (3000m, 5000m and 10,000m) and in December in the Melbourne Marathon clocking 2:32.36. Sensing she still required a faster time to return to the National team, in April she ran a terrific 2:30.49 in the Newcastle Marathon, becoming 14th fastest in Australian history.

Competing in her second world championship marathon for Australia at the 2022 Championships in Eugene, Sarah was magnificent placing 14th, a position only Jess Stenson has bettered, twice in 2013 and 2017, amongst our 20 women world championship marathoners in history. Sarah clocked 2:30.10, amazingly a 39 seconds PB in warm Eugene.

Competing at her third world championships in Budapest in 2023, Sarah battled extreme heat to clock 2:37.31 for 41st place. In 2024 she was very consistent with three marathons between 2:31 and 2:33. Third in Milan in April (2L32.55), she was 5th on the Gold Coast (2:31.58) and 2nd in Melbourne (2:31.05).

In June 2025 she was named in the Australian team for the Tokyo world championships, where she creates history as the first Aussie women to compete in four world championship marathons.

Most influential people: My support crew, coach, sister, dad, family, friends. I’ve also been really inspired by all the female marathon runners, they keep lifting the bar, it pushes me to be a better athlete…Advice to your young self: Don’t take running too seriously and invest in life and interests beyond running…Occupation: Head of Campus, Caulfield Grammar School…Other Sports: State League Netball…Famous relative: AFL player Nick Dal Santo is her brother in-law. “He struggled joining the Klein’s as he became the second-best athlete in the family.” Role model/balance: Sarah strongly believes in the expression ’you can’t be what you can’t see’ so wants to be a role model for young women transitioning into seniors. Sarah wants to do everything possible to fulfill her potential and wants to encourage this and persistence in others – “Leave no stone unturned.” She also believes you can pursue your athletics goals and still have a work/life balance. She believes you may not have balance over a day, but you can over a period of time. For example while recovering from a marathon you could increase your work commitments.

Marathon Career

2:42:53  Melbourne – 13 Oct 2013

2:38:53  Rotterdam – 13 Apr 2014

2:35:21  Commonwealth Games (10th) Glasgow – 27 Jul 2014

2:37:58  World Champs (23rd) Beijing – 30 Aug 2015

2:34:08 Paris disq – 3 Apr 2016

2:43:34  Berlin – 16 Sep 2018

2:32:36  Melbourne – 12 Dec 2021

2:30:49  Newcastle – 3 Apr 2022

2:30:10  World Champs (14th), Eugene 18 Jul 2022

2:33.51  Nagoya – 12 Mar 2023

2:37.31  World Champs (41st) 26 Aug 2023

2:32.55  Milan – 7 Apr 2024

2:31.58  Gold Coast – 7 Jul 2024

2:31.05  Melbourne – 13 Oct 2024 (14th career marathon)

@ 8 September 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au