The world’s best are converging on London and 19 Australians are ready to meet the moment.
The Diamond League is in its home stretch and with the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo less than two months away, London is set to be the place where contenders make a statement. From the established stars like Olympic medallist Eleanor Patterson to Diamond League debutants Claudia Hollingsworth and Reece Holder, the Australians will be out in full force.
Australians views can tune in from 11pm AEST on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube channel, with full entry lists and live results available HERE.
Men’s Long Jump
9.53pm AEST
Liam Adcock is airborne in every sense. With a career-best 8.34m this season, a global medal from World Indoor Championships and a Diamond League win under he’s belt, the Queenslander is no longer the up-and-comer, he’s a threat.
Seeded equal second on paper on season’s best jumps alone, Adcock will face one of the toughest fields in his career yet as he takes on two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou(GRE) and world champion Tajay Gayle(JAM) who have both leapt to distances of 8.60m+.
Women’s High Jump
11.13pm AEST
World champion and Olympic medallist Eleanor Patterson (Fuzz Caan and Marco Fassinotti) has made consistency her calling card in 2025, and in London, she’s looking to convert it into a major win.
A regular fixture on the Diamond League podium this season, the 2022 world champion is building momentum at the right time, clearing heights of 1.97m and pushing ever closer to her personal best of 2.02m.
In London, however, she’ll face one of the most competitive fields of the year, with Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchich(UKR) as well as fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenkowho has returned to top form with a 1.98m jump in Czechia. Germany’s Imke Onnenis also flying high with a career-best of 1.97m this season, threatening the Australian’s chance for a podium finish.
It’s a high-stakes battle between world class women, and Patterson is right in the thick of it.
Women’s 5000m
11.27pm
Australia’s distance depth takes centre stage in the Women’s 5000m as national record holder Rose Davies(Nic Bideau) and Georgia Griffith(Nic Bideau) get set to take on a stacked field.
Davies has been a model of consistency in 2025, clocking her record of 14:40.83 in Xiamen, only weeks before toppling the 10,000m national record in Oslo. With a calm racing style and strong closing strength, the Novocastrian has proven she can hold her own in fast, tactical fields and London will be a test for her as she sharpens her endurance ahead of Tokyo.
Lining up alongside her is Georgia Griffith who has evolved from an 1500m specialist to a legitimate 5000m threat, as she continues to gather pace. Griffith has shown impressive range across events this season and will look to mix it with the front runners.
The pair will be up against an Ethiopian and Kenyan contingent, including Medina Eisa (KEN, 14:25.92) and Chaltu Dida (14:27.11), both capable of pushing the pace below 14:39.
Women’s 800m
11:52pm AEDT
Two Australians are right in the thick of it in the Women’s 800m, with Sarah Billings (Nic Bideau) and Claudia Hollingsworth (Craig Mottram) taking on an all-star cast.
Billings is enjoying a purple patch in her career, clocking a lifetime best of 1:57.83 to become the second fastest Australian in history over two laps. Her breakthrough run in China in May marked her as a serious force in the event, only a month after her selection for the 1500m.
Joining her is Diamond League debutant Hollingsworth. Still only 20, the star has already contested major championships and proven her mettle against international fields but never before has she been in a race like this one. With a best of 1:58.40 and a season’s best just shy of that, Hollingworth will combine her fearless approach to racing with her strong finishing kick that makes her a danger to the heavy weights of the field.
The field is deep, led by Olympic medallists Laura Muir and Georgia Hunter Bell who will have a rowdy home crowd behind them, as well as USA’s Addison Wiley who broke then American 1000m record just last week, and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule Toppin, all seasoned competitors capable of 1:57 or faster.
Men’s 400m
12:03am AEST
Australia’s resurgence in the Men’s 400m is gaining pace and Reece Holder (Christopher Dale) is leading the charge.
The Olympic semi-finalist has stepped on the global stage with intent in 2025, helping to qualify the Men’s 4x400m and Mixed 4x400m teams to the Tokyo World Championships, and just this week, has come 0.01-seconds off his persobal best, cementing his status as the second-fastest Australian of all time.
The London field is truly world class, featuring world number one, Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR) infront of a home crowd, along with Olympic silver medallist Bayapo Ndori (BOT) and the fastest in the field in South Africa’s Zakithi Nene who has raced to 43.76 this year.
Holder brings a calm and composed approach, as well as closing speed, and his Diamond League debut in London gives him the stage to do that as he pushes towards Tokyo.
Women’s Mile
12.13am AEST
The Women’s mile in London is a blockbuster on paper and it’s even bigger for Australia with three stars lining up.
Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull (Simon Hull) will lead the way, coming off her Australian 1000m record last weekend. Ranked number three globally and holding the Australian mile record at 4:15.34, Hull thrives in fast, high-pressure environments and this will be no expection.
She’ll be joined by Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren), who has been selected for the 800m in Tokyo, and has shown time and again that she can rise to the occasion, and a strong performance here will put her in good stead heading into Worlds. Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams), a former 1500m specialist who has shown her strength over longer distances this year, rounds out the trio and will be hunting for another Diamond League podium after claiming her maiden win in Rome earlier this year.
The talent in the field includes Olympic medallists Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) and teenager Birke Haylom (ETH), both expected to push the pace from the front. The mile may be non-championship in status, but this race will have all the feels of an Olympic final.
The race will be paced by Australian 800m record holder Catriona Bisset.
Women’s 200m
12.38am AEST
It’s one of the toughest sprint fields of the year with Olympic champion Julien Alfred (LCA) spearheading the field and Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis (Laurent Meuwly) is jumping straight into the deep end.
The 20-year-old has proven her worth over the past two years, and has shown she is not there to make up the numbers. With a personal best of 22.88 and a season’s best of 23.01, London offers the Australian champion a golden opportunity to take that next leap.
Aside from the Olympic gold medallist herself, Lewis will face Britain’s national hero and former world champion Dina Asher-Smith and her compatriot Amy Hunt who has bolted to 22.45. It’s a fast and fierce race and the kind of race that will prepare Lewis for what’s to come in Tokyo.
Men’s 1500m
12.48am AEST
A star-studded race with some of the biggest names in the sport, the Men’s 1500m in London will close the night and the Australians are showing up in force, with four of the best in the field.
London Diamond League winner from 2024 Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) will lean on his experience and will be joined by prodigious teen Cameron Myers (Dick Telford), Olympic semi-finalist Adam Spencer (Mick Byrne) and rising star Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham) all bring international experience and sub-3:32 credentials into a race that also doubles as a key race for selection.
Myers, still only 19, owns the fourth fastest time in the field on season’s best times and is fast becoming a name global competitors can’t ignore. In London, he’ll look to sharpen his racing IQ and gain more experience against the sport’s top tier as he closes in on the Australian recird.
Hoare, with a Commonwealth Games gold and multiple Diamond League podiums is a championships mainstay, and his strength lies in his ability to handle pace and pressure.
With a qualifier already in tow, Jude Thomas will be looking to better his times as he soars up the Australian all-time list while Adam Spencer, the only one of the four athletes without a qualifier for Tokyo, will use this as an opportunity to prove his strength against the trio while looking for his breakthrough of the season.
Non Diamond League events
Women’s 4x100m Relay
10.23pm AEST
The Australian Women’s 4x100m relay team will be racing, with a rising stars Gabriella Taylor (Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Katie Edwards) and Olivia Rose Inkster (Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Katie Edwards) alongside the country’s more established sprinters in Torrie Lewis (Laurent Meuwly)and Lakara Stallan (Andrew Murphy). While not the line up fans are used to seeing, the strength of the Australian relay program will be on show as this new-look line up aim to pass the baton the way around the London track.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 17/5/2025
