Five years after the 2012 Olympics, the athletics world is ready once again to focus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium for the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London from 4 – 13 August.
Headlining the current team is 2011 100m hurdles world champion Sally Pearson (Qld), who made a triumphant return to the Australian athletic scene following a lengthy time on the sidelines due to injury.
Joining Pearson on the plane will be fellow world championships gold medallist Dani Stevens (NSW, nee Samuels) in the discus. Stevens is having one of her most consistent seasons to date, with her performance at the NSW Open Championships her second best of her career reaching 66.78m.
Rio 2016 medallists Jared Tallent (SA) and Dane Bird-Smith (Qld) will be two of six walkers set to don the green and gold in the 50km and 20km race walks in London. Tallent, who already has three world championships medals to his name (50km walk silver in Daegu 2011 and Beijing 2015, bronze in 2013 Moscow), will return to the Mall in London, the scene of his gold-medal winning 50km walk performance at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Long jumper Fabrice Lapierre (NSW) grabbed the silver medal at the 2015 world championships and will head to London ready to go up against with a very competitive field that will push his limits. Jumping a windy 8.50m (+4.4) at the Longhorn Invitational, Lapierre’s form has been up and down in
For more information on the Australian team heading to London please click here.
