Australian athletics is running hot and 14 of the nation’s best athletes are poised to bring that heat to the Diamond League in Xiamen this Saturday, with Nicola Olyslagers and Kurtis Marschall leading the charge in the field while Lachlan Kennedy meets the world’s fastest men once again.
The Xiamen meeting is the first 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 8:00pm AEST, Saturday 26 April, Australian Athletics will have broadcast details as soon as they become available.
Read on for a full preview of the Australian action awaiting in Xiamen, China. Full start lists can be found HERE.
China has proven to be a happy hunting ground for the high jump duo of Nicola Olyslagers (Matt Horsnell) and Eleanor Patterson (Fayaaz Caan), who last month soared to gold and silver respectively in Nanjing for the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
The Australian pair will face one of the toughest tests in global athletics when meeting world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), who will be out to reassert herself back on top of proceedings after being forced to settle for bronze at the World Indoor Championships.
Olyslagers and Mahuchikh are tied for the 2025 world lead at 2.01m, with Patterson sitting in third at 1.99m, but that height is only set to grow throughout the year as the premier trio battle it out on the world stage.
Fresh off punching his ticket to the 2025 World Championships, Lachlan Kennedy (Andrew Iselin) is locked and loaded for a rematch with Jeremiah Azu (GBR) who pipped him for gold over 60m at the World Indoor Championships.
The showdown is just one storyline in the race as Kennedy continues to chase a sub-10 second performance, with his hopes only aided by the additions of Christian Coleman (USA), Letsile Tebogo (BOT) and Akani Simbine (RSA) in Xiamen.
A calm operator who has taken everything in his stride in 2025, Kennedy will face a tough initiation on the Diamond League circuit, but the in-form man looks set to continue his scorching form.
Pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall (WA, Paul Burgess) is in such fine form that not a competition goes by where the elusive six-metre marker is not mentioned, but the World Championships bronze medallist can focus back on pure competitiveness at his Diamond League return.
World record holder Armand Duplantis (SWE) is the drawcard of any pole vault field, but Marschall finds himself in the queue behind the king alongside the likes of Emmanouil Karalis (GRE), John Ernest Obiena (PHI) and Sam Kendricks (USA).
Ranked fifth in the field on paper at 5.95m, Marschall will have all eyes on setting a strong impression with a top three finish.
Australian record holder Rose Davies (Scott Westcott) will be joined by the ever-improving Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) and Maudie Skyring (Craig Mottram) for 12.5 laps of the track in China, taking on a Women’s 5000m field headlined by world record holder Gudaf Tsegay (ETH).
With a personal best of 14:41.65 to her name, Olympic finalist Davies is building back towards her best, while Griffith took silver at the Australian Athletics Championships in her first attempt at the distance in 15:02.92, and Skyring ran a bold fifth with a personal best of 15:06.84.
With Tsegay and Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet expected to race in a league of their own, the Australian trio will lock into the race within the race and battle for the highest placings possible.
He already has a World Indoor bronze medal to his name this year and Liam Adcock is out for more in Xiamen, ticking off another of his goals when marking his Diamond League debut.
Leaping to a career-best of 8.33m at last month’s Perth Track Classic, Adcock now looms as a threat on any start list in what is a wide-open event in the current athletics landscape. The Australian will hit the runway with ambitions of toppling Olympic silver medallist Wayne Pinnock (JAM) and 2019 world champion Tejay Gayle (JAM).
Long discussed has been Australia’s middle-distance rise and with four women locked in for just one event on the Diamond League stage, the stocks have never been healthier.
Jetting to Xiamen after a triumphant victory over 800m at the Australian Athletics Championships, Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) will look to reclaim her Australian 1000m record when taking to the track alongside Sarah Billings (Nic Bideau), Bendere Oboya (Craig Mottram) and Carley Thomas (Craig Mottram).
That marker stands at 2:34.50 set by Georgia Griffith, and you can expect the race to be fast as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon goes after the world record of 2:28.98.
Returning from her US base to dominate the Australian Athletics Championships, Liz Clay (Andreas Behm) took just 12.74-seconds to show fans that she is back at her best ahead of a big 2025.
Set to race in a field headed by world record holder Tobi Amusan (NGR) at 12.12-seconds, Clay will look to close in on the World Championships qualifying standard of 12.73 – despite sitting pretty in the world rankings.
The international affair will see 10 athletes from seven countries battle it out over the sticks, with Clay holding the advantage of races under her belt over many of her faster rivals who are opening their outdoor seasons.
While no Diamond League points will be up for grabs in the Men’s Triple Jump as a pre-program event, Australia’s Connor Murphy (Andrew Murphy) will fly the flag in a world-class field featuring eight men to have surpassed the 17m barrier.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 24/4/2025
