It was a day of milestones for Australia at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull and the high flying Yual Reath powered through to finals, while Torrie Lewis broke new ground as the nation’s first women’s 100m semi finalist since Sally Pearson in 2007.
Medal favourite Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) cruised to the 1500m final after placing second in her semi-final in 4:06.87 but not before navigating an unpredictable second-round race.
With the race taking a slower pace, athletes found themselves jostling for a position in the pack with many caught off guard and tangled in contact. While Hull held her composure to secure a top-six placing to survive and advance, the Novocastrian conceded she felt “unnerved” throughout the race, with Italy’s Marta later disqualified after impeding Germany’s Nele Weßel, who was reinstated following an appeal.
“Tonight was just about getting through safely,” Hull said.
“I got bumped a couple of times, and I think a part of that is that I like to stay wide, so I think any time I felt like I was being shuffled. But when you’re at the front, you’re kind of in control and tit’s kind of the way I ran around yesterday. Today, I didn’t lead the race but I controlled it from my position and when the fall happened, I said to Nikki we should string it out. It was good to have someone next to me with that camaraderie and the same idea that we both deserved to be in that final.”
Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) was unlucky to miss out on a place in the final, falling one spot short in seventh in a time of 4:01.65. In the lead pack for half the race, 34-year-old Hall made a bold move to overtake reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon(ETH) with 600m to go, using up energy that she was hoping to conserve later in the race.
Despite the depth of the metric mile across the nation, Cameron Myers (ACT, Dick Telford), Jude Thomas (QLD, Collis Birmingham) and Adam Spencer (VIC, Mick Byrne) were unable to progress out of the Men’s 1500m heats.
Myers put up a fight in his first race at an Open age major championships but the teen prodigy struggled to keep his spot near the front of the pack. Despite a big kick home off the final bend, he was could not find his way through to the front, finishing eighth in 3:42.75.
After a tough final preparation period, the 19-year-old said he was disappointed with his result.
“The last four weeks have been really hard. Obviously, I had a couple of days in hospital (following a seizure the day after the Silesia Diamond League) and I had a cold. I came back, but nothing really clicked in today,” Myers said.
Olympic semi-finalist Spencer positioned himself well at the front of the pack but when the pace came over the final 300 metres, he was swamped and finished 10th in his heat at 3:42.17. Debutant Thomas was mid-pack throughout the race, but he could not match the closing pace of championship racing and finished 11th in 3:38.19.
At the start of the day, three Australian marathon runners bravely conquered Tokyo’s gruelling humidity and heat. Vanessa Wilson (VIC, Paul Wilson), a 43-year-old teacher representing Australia, had a great race to place 38th in 2:39:17. Fellow teacher Sarah Klein (VIC, Peter Schuwalow), in her fourth World Athletics Championships, was 42nd in 2:41.46. Teammate Tara Palm (SA, Peter-John Bosch), in her first major championship representing Australia, was 48th in 2:44.51.
Fresh off her Australian Record of 11.08 seconds in her 100m heat in Tokyo, 20-year-old Torrie Lewis (QLD, Laurent Meuwly) produced the second best finish by an Australian woman in 20 editions of the World Championships.
Lewis was fifth in a blanket finish semi-final running 11.14 seconds. She finished the Championships ranked 14th in the world and the youngest woman in the semi-finals. Only Melinda Gainsford-Taylor has finished a World Championships ranked higher when she was 10th in 1997. Lewis is now focussing on preparing for the 200m and 4x100m relay heats later in the week.
Yual Reath (VIC, Mike Barber) jumped a season best of 2.25 metres to qualify for his first World Championship final. The 25-year-old high jumper missed just one height in an impressive qualifying performance in Group B.
“I had a lot of fun out there tonight. The atmosphere was sensational and electrical and I thrive in an environment like that. When you get over the bar, you just scream and let it out and it’s such a good feeling. I’m still competition rusty at the moment, but I know I’ve got more in me to jump a 2.30m.”
For the experienced Brandon Starc (NSW, Alex Stewart) and debutant Roman Anastasios (VIC, Sandro Bisetto) it was a qualifying round full of disappointment. Both cleared the first height at 2.16m but were unable to clear 2.21m and challenge for the final.
Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale) has continued his impressive and consistent form at major championships, qualifying through to the 400m semi-finals, by placing second in his heat in 44.54 seconds – the fastest by any Australian at the World Athletics Championships. The 23-year-old led clearly into the home straight, as he often does, and when challenged over the last 50 metres he responded well and showed he had left in the tank.
He is now only the ninth Australian man to reach the 400m semi-finals at the World Championships. Holder’s time was just 0.01 seconds off his personal best from Paris 2024, where he made the semi-finals, and he was trying to preserve his legs for the rounds.
“I stuck to my strategy as well. Coach is going to be probably a bit annoyed at the last 50m, I looked around a bit. He said before I went out, he said specifically not to look around and I did that, so I know I’m definitely in for a bit of a whopping, but I went out there and did what I needed to do to advance,” Holder said.
Cooper Sherman (VIC, Neville Down) finished seventh in his 400m heat, but it was an impressive run for the 21-year-old in his first major individual championship race. The 2025 National Champion ran 45.53 seconds, just short of his fastest ever race overseas (45.51).
Ellie Beer (QLD, Brett Robinson) was below her best in the Women’s 400m. Her time of 52.31 seconds was well down on her personal best of 51.30, set in Europe in June. Disappointingly for the 22-year-old, being close to her best time would have seen her progress.
Australia’s hammer throwers showed near-best performances, with Lara Roberts (QLD, John Frazier) throwing a best effort of 68.55 metres to place 22nd in her Australian team debut. Paris Olympian and national record holder Stephanie Ratcliffe (VIC, Dale Stevenson) was a few metres off her best and placed 23rd with her final attempt of 68.42 metres.
Liz Clay (QLD, Andreas Behm) was unable to replicate her season’s best in Tokyo, placing eighth in her 100m Hurdles heat. Having suffered a foot injury in June, the 30-year-old felt the impact of her injury when landing on the same foot after the first hurdle, and found herself pulling back over the final barriers.
The 2025 World Athletics Championships continue tomorrow from 830am AEST. Australian viewers can watch every session live and free on SBS and the Nine Network.
By Sascha Ryner and Andrew Reid for Australian Athletics
Posted: 15/9/2025
