The Diamond League party kicked off in Xiamen last week and moves onto Shanghai this Saturday, with eight Australians earning starts from World Indoor champion high jumper Nicola Olyslagers to middle-distance debutant Jude Thomas.
The Shanghai meeting is the second of 15 in the Wanda Diamond League Series in 2025, culminating with the final in Zurich prior to the 2025 World Athletics Championships. With the meet set to kick off at 9:00pmAEST, Saturday 3 May, Australian viewers can tune in live and free via the Diamond League YouTube channel.
Read on for a full preview of the Australian action awaiting in Shanghai, China. Full start lists can be found HERE.
While Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess) will be disappointed his 5.62m clearance for sixth place in Xiamen last week, the Australian will remain optimistic that his best is good enough as a 5.82m clearance by Emmanouil Karalis (GRE) earned second place behind world record holder Armand Duplantis (SWE) with 5.92m.
With talks of the elusive six-metre barrier dominating his domestic campaign and a personal best of 5.95m to his name, Marschall appears destined to add his name to one of athletics’ most exclusive clubs, but whether that will be in Shanghai remains to be seen.
It was Eleanor Patterson (Fayaaz Caan) who turned the tables on Nicola Olyslagers (Matt Horsnell) at the Diamond League season opener, as the pair cleared 1.94m and could only be separated on countback.
World record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR) took down the Australian duo on that occasion with a modest winning height of 1.97m by Diamond League standards, with the world’s premier three high jumpers ready to do battle once again in Shanghai.
Just weeks ago at the Australian Athletics Championships, Olyslagers fired an ominous warning when raising the bar to 2.05m after securing the national title, floating the idea of what might be possible in 2025.
A valiant effort in Xiamen saw the rising Sarah Billings (Nic Bideau) claim third place over 1000m and finish well under the former national record with a time of 2:33.45 – only beaten home fellow Australian Abbey Caldwell and Kenyan world record holder Faith Kipyegon.
Billings drops back down to 800m after securing a breakthrough silver over 1500m at the Australian Athletics Championships, returning to the event where she possesses a 1:58.94 personal best to test her speed against the likes of world number four Tisge Duguma (ETH).
World Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) will mark her Diamond League return in Shanghai with her first international competition of 2025, where she will be out to live up to her world number three ranking.
With a personal best of 66.27m to her name and a wealth of experience on the world stage, Little will face reigning Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) who is opening her season, while Yan Ziyi (CHN) holds one of the biggest throws in the world this year at 64.83m.
After pacing duties in recent years, 23-year-old Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham) is poised for his Diamond League debut in what shapes up as a chaotic Men’s 5000m race, headlined by Berihu Aregawi (ETH) who owns a 12:40.45 personal best.
Thomas’ 5000m best was set on the boards of Boston University earlier this year with a time of 13:09.36, just weeks after another slick time of 3:51.19 in the mile. A tough initiation awaits the Ipswich product with four sub-13 minute men in the field, but the Diamond League stage is one that Australians can get used to seeing him on as one of the nation’s brightest middle-distance prospects.
Two-time Olympians Matthew Clarke (Adam Didyk) is locked in to race over the barriers with some of the world’s fastest steeplechasers, including back-to-back Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR).
An 8:20.06 man at his best, Clarke will be buoyed by his recent Australian title and will relish the opportunity to mix it with the world’s best outside of a major championships environment, as he prepares to chase qualification for the 2025 World Athletics Championships – through either world rankings or the 8:15.00 qualifying standard.
While a pre-program event without Diamond League status, the Men’s Long Jump will see Liam Adcock take flight once again after an entertaining series in Xiamen last week, capped off with second place and a backflip.
Jumping 8.15m on that occasion and leaping to World Indoor bronze and a personal best of 8.33m in Perth earlier this year, the showman is piecing together a 2025 campaign to remember.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 1/5/2025
