Australia’s premier athletes have rounded out the Diamond League Final in style in Zurich, Switzerland led by a pair of podium finishes from Jessica Hull and Linden Hall who followed on from Nicola Olyslagers’ high jump victory on the opening day of competition.
Touted as the favourite for the Women’s 1500m in the absence of world record holder Faith Kipyegon, Olympic silver medallist Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) embraced that label when throwing down the gauntlet to the field and enforcing an aggressive pace.
Spurred on by the bell, the Australian record holder only lengthened her gap on the field down the back straight of the final lap, before being made to pay for her bold tactics in the final metres before the line – finishing second in 3:57.02 behind Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir in 3:56.99.
“Today I just wanted to run hard, I wanted to run fast. I probably went a little too hard from the bell and I lost my legs a little bit in the home straight,” Hull said.
“At the end of the day, I’m just pretty tired right now and I think that’s just the training load. If anything, I ran a very good 13 or 14 hundred tonight and the last hundred will come when I freshen up, which I’m well and truly ready for.”
Fellow Australian Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) also landed on the podium when racing patiently and closing hard to finish in a time of 3:57.44, continuing her career-best season at 34-years-old.
Adding to the middle-distance action, Georgia Griffith (VIC, Nic Bideau) raced to fourth place in the Women’s 3000m in 8:41.36, finding running room in the home straight but leaving herself with too much work to do.
The championship style race saw Griffith boxed in throughout the final lap in the burn up for home, while fellow Australian Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) trailed in ninth place with 8:46.11 as the race was won by Ethiopia’s Fantaye Belayneh (ETH) in 8:40.56.
Back-to-back Diamond League champion Matthew Denny (QLD, Dale Stevenson) was valiant in his bid for a third straight crown in the Men’s Discus Throw, claiming fourth place in the hotly contested event.
The Olympic bronze medallist and Australian record holder launched the discus 66.62m in the fifth round to land himself in podium contention, before Olympic champion Roje Stona (JAM) relegated him to fourth in the final round, as world record holder Mykolas Alekna (LTU) took out the event with a 68.89m effort.
Also clinching fourth place in the field was World Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little (NSW, Angus McEntyre) who took a step back towards her best with a 61.96m throw in the Women’s Javelin, eclipsing the 60-metre barrier for the first time in 2025.
The Australian added over two metres to her season’s best when finishing 30cm shy of the podium, as Elina Tzengko (GRE) continued her breakthrough season to clinch the win when throwing 64.57m.
Sarah Billings (VIC, Nic Bideau) closed out the action with seventh place in the Women’s 800m in a time of 1:58.76 when latching onto the field, as hometown hero Audrey Werro (SUI) broke the tape in 1:55.91 at just 21-years-old.
The Zurich Diamond League was the final of 15 meetings in the series dating back to the season opener in Xiamen in April, with full results available HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 29/08/2025
