Australia has added two bronze medals to its tally at the FISU World University Games thanks to heptathlete Emelia Surch and high jumper Roman Anastasios, with Surch becoming the ninth Australian woman in history to eclipse 6000 points in the event in dramatic fashion.
On day four of competition, it was Surch (QLD, Glynis Nunn) who stole the show when landing global bronze in the heptathlon with 6068 points, holding off fourth place by a mere 10 points with personal bests in the final two events.
Launching the javelin almost four metres further than ever before with a 42.13m effort on her third and final throw, the 22-year-old then returned to carve three seconds off her 800m career best as the clock stopped at 2:13.66 – delivering a clutch performance to clinch the bronze.
The Griffith University product finished 10 points ahead of Poland’s Edyta Bielska and just 13 points behind silver medallist Szabina Szucs of Hungary, while fellow Australian Mia Scerri (VIC, Ralph Newton) claimed ninth place on 5651 points.
Soaring up and over 2.20m on his first attempt, Anastasios (VIC, Sandro Bisetto) prevailed in a four-way countback for bronze in the high jump, saluting with his first global medal to make it double bronze for Australia on day four of competition – adding to Georgia Harris’ 100m gold on day two.
The Melbourne University student left a shaky start in his wake to deliver the first-attempt clearance at 2.20m when it mattered, also bolstering his world ranking and qualification hopes for the 2025 World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo this September.
Adding to the finals action, Alesha Bennetts (ACT, Matt Beckenham) left it all on the track in the 400m hurdles when racing to fifth place in 56.71-seconds, producing three of the five fastest runs of her career across the heats, semis and final, while Colby Eddowes (ACT, Matt Vining) also finished fifth in the 110m hurdles with a 13.69 (-0.3) performance.
Olympian Kristie Edwards (NSW, Andrew Murphy) led the sprinting contingent with her fifth-place finish over 200m, clocking 23.07 (+0.1) in the hotly contested affair when missing out on the medals by just 0.04-seconds despite setting up her race with a blazing bend.
Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas) matched that feat in the men’s race with a competitive run of 20.92 (-0.3), followed by Christopher Ius (NSW, Andrew Murphy) in seventh place with 21.01-seconds.
In the middle-distance ranks, Adam Goddard (SA, Riley Cocks) flew the flag for Australia with ninth place in the 1500m final, holding his own in the tactical affair to finish in a time of 3:49.02, while the nation’s Mixed 4x400m quartet of Thoams Reynolds (VIC, Matthew Oakley), Isabella Guthrie (NSW, Abbie Taddeo), Terrell Thorne (QLD, Christopher Dale) and Hayley Kitching (NSW, Tim Kitching) took fifth place in the final in 3:20.51.
Rounding out the action, Alex Epitropakis (QLD, Stacey Taurima) switched the triple jump for the long jump to take 10th place in the final with 7.44m (+0.2).
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 25/7/2025
