Middle-distance runner Abbey Caldwell has had a huge career breakthrough, taking out her first Diamond League title overnight in the 1500m in Xiamen, China.
Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) ran a tactically perfect race, winning with a time of 3:57.26 in very humid conditions.
The Victorian finished ahead of fellow Australians Jessica Hull, 5th (NSW, Simon Hull) , Linden Hall, 8th (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams),Sarah Billings, 11th (Nick Bideau), and Claudia Hollingsworth, 13th, (VIC, Craig Mottram)
Caldwell was delighted after the race, capping off a huge couple of weeks following her third-place finish last weekend in the 1500m at the Shanghai Diamond League meet.
“I’m really happy with that,” she said.
“It was really hot out there, it was a lot harder than last week I think with that extra bit of humidity.
“It was tough and I just wanted to go out and execute a good race.
“The time would have been a P.B last week, so I can’t complain at all.”
Caldwell will now head back to Australia for a couple of weeks before returning to Europe to race in the Rome Diamond League on June 4.
She has already been selected for the 800m at the Commonwealth Games, after winning the national title at the Australian Athletic Championships in Sydney.
Other strong results for the Australians included high jumper Eleanor Patterson who placed fifth in her first Diamond League for the year.
In a strong competition, she jumped 1.94m before failing at the next height of 1.97m.
The competition was won by Ukrainian jumper Yulia Levchenko, who cleared 1.99m for another big win.
Sprinter Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) continued his good form, finishing sixth with a time of 10.06.
He will now head back to Brisbane for a training block before heading overseas in Europe.
Other results included Liam Adcock (NSW, self-coached) who finished 8th in the long jump with a distance of 7.76m, Cara Feain-Ryan (QLD, Ben Norton) who finished 12th in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9.29.10, Seth O’Donnell (VIC, Andrew Russell) who finished 14th in a very competitive 5000m with a time of 13:18.68, and Torrie Lewis (QLD, Laurent Meuwly) who finished 9th in 200m with a time of 23.25.
One of the stories of the night was 18-year-old Chinese javelin thrower Yan Ziyi, who threw 71.74m which is the second longest throw in the women’s event in history.
She improved her own World U20 record by an impressive 5.85m.
The next Diamond League will be on May 31 in the Moroccan capital of Rabat.
Full results from the Xiamen Diamond League can be founder HERE.
By Luke Dennehy, Australian Athletics
Posted 23/5/2026
