Australia’s golden mix of emerging talent and seasoned champions will be on display in Tokyo today, as 17-year-old sprint prodigy Gout Gout and Torrie Lewis race the 200m Semi-Finals, Olympic medallists Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson launch their campaigns for yet another global podium in the high jump and Cameron MCEntyre appears in his first major final on Day Six of the World Athletics Championships.
After launching a strong campaign on debut in his 200m heat placing third in 20.23 seconds, Gout Gout (QLD, Diane Sheppard) returns to the global stage once more as he sets his sights for the Men’s 200m Final.
The Ipswich teen and national record holder handled the pressure and heat of the packed Olympic Stadium well beyond his years, admitting he took his foot off the accelerator as he moved comfortably through the round.
Adding to the global hype already around him, Gout will now aim up once more with a view of clocking his first sub-20 second time to give him a chance of reaching the Final. In his Semi-Final he has five runners with faster times including Jamaica’s Bryan Levell (19.69) who finished first in Gout’s heat, as well as Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo (19.46) and USA’s Courtney Lindsey.
Gout says the experience has been invaluable so far, but is ready to tick off another goal at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
“I’m the youngest in the field, just a young bull trying to get into the final and just do my thing and run like the wind. So sub-20 in the final, indeed that’s the goal. Let’s get it.”
Should Gout advance to the Men’s 200m Final, he will be the first Australian to do so since Patrick Johnson in 2005.
Torrie Lewis (QLD, Laurent Meuwly) is also ready to challenge for a spot in the Women’s 200m Final. The 20-year-old’s heat run of 22.56 seconds was a personal best and the eighth fastest heat run. The 100m Australian record holder has drawn a tough semi-final and the last time an Australian women made the 200m final was Lauren Hewitt in 1999.
Lewis will run from lane 8 of semi-final 2, with Tokyo 2025 100m Champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA) and 2019 World Champion Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) on the two lanes inside her. Lewis knows that if she runs a fast bend and fights hard to the finish another fast time could deliver a spot in the Final.
Javelin thrower Cameron McEntyre (NSW, Angus McEntyre) showed that you don’t have to be super young to have a breakthrough with the 26-year-old qualifying for his first global major championship final. Having thrown a personal best of 83.03m in qualifying he has nothing to lose in the final.
Placing 11th overall in the qualifying rounds, McEntyre will now face the one of the toughest javelin fields in the history of the Championships, spearheaded by Indian great Neeraj Chopra (90.23m) and a cast of six other 90m throwers. The highest place by an Australian in the Men’s Javelin Throw at the World Athletics Championships is sixth, by Hamish Peacock in 2017.
Dual Olympic silver medallist and World Indoor Champion Nicola Olyslagers (NSW, Matt Horsnell) and 2022 World Champion Eleanor Patterson (VIC, Fayazz Caan) will headline one of Australia’s marquee events in Tokyo, and will be joined by Central Coast’s Emily Whelan (NSW, Matt Horsnell) for the qualifying round.
With Olyslagers and Patterson both proven global medallists, Australia is chasing a remarkable seventh consecutive global podium in the event, and the fourth chapter in history with both athletes standing on the same dais at once.
“I love that it is competitive. It helps me pour all I can into every session because there’s no such thing as an easy win in the Women’s High Jump now,” gold medal favourite Olyslagers said.
“In saying that, I know it’s a real possibility, but I also know from my previous World Championships that anything can happen on the day. My performance goal is not a colour of a medal but jump focused and enjoying the journey to get to those higher heights. With new territory and new world ranking, this hasn’t changed my focus.”
Patterson, who has medalled at every global championships she has contested since 2022, remains firmly in the hunt with a season’s best of 1.97m, and together the pair, who made history in 2023 as the first two Australians to share a global podium in an individual event, face a fierce opposition with five athletes having cleared 2.00m this year, setting the stage for one of the most competitive high jump contest in history.
Australia’s golden era of women’s middle-distance running stretches into both the first round of the 5000m and the 800m.
In the 5000m heats, Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) doubles up after just missing the 1500m final, joined by national record holder Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) who ran 14:31.54 earlier this year, and Georgia Griffith (VIC, Nic Bideau), the second fastest Australian in history over the distance. All three will look to advance to the final but need to finish top-8 in their heat to book a spot in the final.
Griffith is in for a fast and challenging race, facing world record holder Beatrice Chebet (KEN) who became the first woman in history to break the 14-minute barrier. The Kenyan won the 10,000m on the opening day of the Championships. Distance greats Birke Haylom (ETH, 14:23.71) and Shelby Houlihan (USA, 14:23.92) add class to this tough heat. While seeded seventh in the field, the Victorian has had a breakthrough year in the longer distances, having only stepped up to the 3000m and 5000m this year and catapulting up the rankings list with her personal best of 14:32.82 from the London Diamond League.
Davies and Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) will be racing Faith Kipyegon (KEN) who won the 1500m on Tuesday, former World Champion Gudaf Tegay (ETH) and World U20 Champion Medina Eisa (ETH). The Australians come into the Championships following a fantastic year. Davies set the Australian Record of 14:31.45 at the London Diamond League, and Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) won a Diamond League over 3000m. Hall just missed the 1500m Final earlier this week.
The Women’s 800m heats feature Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) backing up after claiming bronze in the 1500m, alongside Commonwealth medallist Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) and the newly crowned national record holder Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram).
Hollingsworth, 20, who ran 1:57.67 at the Silesia Diamond League to eclipse Catriona Bisset’s record from 2019, made the Olympic semi-finals last year and now has her sights firmly set on stepping up once more. On paper, Hollingsworth shouldn’t have any trouble lifting to the next level ranked third in her heat but the World Under 20 silver medallist will need to be mindful of Olympic medallist Georgia Hunter Bell setting the tone for the race, as well as France’s Renelle Lamote who holds a similar time at 1:57.06.
Only two athletes in Heat 4 are faster than Caldwell’s 1:57.70, giving her the best chance of success at reaching the top-three. Hull will need to wait until the lucky last heat to compete. With the advantage of understanding how fast she will need to run to progress, the four-time global medallist will race confidently and strategically against the likes of World Indoor Champion Prudence Sekgodiso from South Africa.
The World Athletics Championships 2025 continue in Tokyo until September 21, with three more days left of competition. Australian audiences can watch live and free via two networks, SBS and Nine.
By Sascha Ryner and Andrew Reid, Australian Athletics
Posted: 18/9/2025
