Australia’s athletes have lit up the track and field at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo, collecting six wins, three meet records and seven podium finishes in a commanding display at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.
Taking place at Tokyo’s National Stadium, the same venue set to host the World Athletics Championships this September, the meet served as a timely rehearsal for 16 Australians, with each of them making themselves right at home.
Middle distance supremo Georgia Griffth (VIC, Nic Bideau) delivered one of the standout performances of the meet, storming to victory in the Women’s 1500m in 4:01.10 to claim the fastest outdoor performance of the year and shatter the 10-year-old meeting record previously held by distance great Gudaf Tsegay (ETH).
The only athletes to stick with the race pacer, the 28-year-old found herself 25-metres ahead of the field running the final two laps on her own to finish five seconds ahead of Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka (4:06.08) and compatriot Sarah Billings (VIC, Nic Bideau) who also reached the podium finishing third in 4:06.08.
The 3000m proved a green and gold showcase with Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) taking out the Women’s race in 8:42.38 with a convincing victory, almost six seconds ahead of Kenya’s Helen Ekalale Lobun (8:49.28) and Jude Thomas (QLD, Collis Birmingham) won the Men’s in 7:39.69 to move to 10th on the Australian all-time list. Both athletes smashed the meet records, highlighting Australia’s growing distance depth.
In the sprints, Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) made headlines, dipping across the finish line first in the 100m, clocking 11.39 (-0.9) to edge out a star-studded field that included American sprint sensation Sha’Carri Richardson who finished fourth, marking one of her biggest career scalps to date.
Reece Holder added to the gold rush with a scorching run in the Men’s 400m, clocking 44.76, while Liam Adcock (NSW) left to his very last jump in the Men’s Long Jump in the final round to snatch the victory away from Japanese favourite Hibiki Tsuha with a clutch 8.20m (+1.3). Chris Mitrevski (VIC, Alex Stewart) finished fourth with a best of 7.95m (+0.7)
Rising triple jump star Desleigh Owusu (NSW, Andrew Murphy) leapt to 13.51m, narrowly missing the podium with her ninth best all-time jump, while in the Men’s High Jump, it was Brandon Starc (NSW, Alex Stewart) who was unlucky to miss the podium with fourth place with a 2.20m clearance. Fellow Olympian Yual Reath finished sixth in the field, clearing the same height but missing his first attempt at the height.
Matthew Clarke (SA, Adam Didyk) ran his fastest time in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase since 2021, clocking 8:23.60 for fifth place, ahead of Ben Buckingham’s (VIC, Craig Mottram) seventh place.
Rising sprint star Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas) and Cameron McEntyre (NSW, Angus McEntyre) also finished fifth in their respective events, with Murphy battling a stubborn headwind and a stacked field in the 200m with a time 20.89m (-2.0), while McEntyre threw a season’s best of 78.01m in the Men’s Javelin.
Global medallist Mackenzie Little (NSW, Angus McEntyre) took a short hiatus from her duties at Royal North Shore hospital to throw a best of 57.90m in the Women’s Javelin in the Japanese capital, and Celeste Mucci rounded out the Women’s 100m Hurdles field in 13.20 (+0.7) to finish ninth.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 18/5/2025
