Ella Connolly

Biography

At just 23, Ella Connolly is the best all-round sprinter Australia has had in two decades. Fourth in the 400m at the World U20 Championships in 2018, in recent years she has been concentrating on the short sprints, however in her occasional 400s she has still clocked 52 seconds times in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

At the 2022 World Championships she competed in the 200m heats then two weeks later at the Commonwealth Games she negotiated her way through the 200m heat, semi to placed sixth in the final. It was the highest place by an Aussie in this event for 20 years. She then joined the 4x100m relay team running just the final and helped the team to fourth place. 11 months later, in July 2023, the Australian team were elevated to the bronze medal following the disqualification of the winners Nigeria for a doping violation.

In 2023 she was second in the National 200m championship and at the end of summer moved to Sydney coach Andrew Murphy. In August she was selected in the 200m and 4x100m relay for the Budapest World Championships, but unfortunately a hamstring injury in the leadup prevented her from taking her position in the team.

+ + + + +

Growing up in Burpengary, located mid-way between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Connolly started competing in athletics aged 10 and enjoyed instant success, winning the 100m at the 2010 National Primary School competition. She would later join Deception Bay Little Athletics, where she would commit to serious training and fall in love with the sport.

From her mid-teenage years, Ella Connolly has drawn attention for her incredible speed, winning numerous national sprint trebles. Selected for the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas, she won medals in the 200m and 400m - just days after her seventeenth birthday. In the 400m she clocked the extraordinary time of 52.72 – faster than Cathy Freeman at that age, these results earning her selection in the Australian senior team for the 2017 World Championships. Her journey over the next few years has seen both ups and downs, unfortunately missing the 2018 Commonwealth Games in her home state of Queensland due to hamstring injury. Only to return later that year to achieve fourth in the 400m at the 2018 U20 Championships.

Over the following years, injuries and COVID cancellations may have got in the way, but these did not stop glimpses of brilliance, with impressive times of 11.21 and 22.96 clocked in January 2021. Over the summer of 2021/22 Ella was in dazzling form, most notably recording two PB’s on one December day, 11.25 in the 100m and 52.28 for 400m. Over the remainder of summer she consistently ran quick in the short sprints and in her second 400m outing in March, again lowered her PB to 52.21. She ran four sub-11.30 100s and five sub-23.20 times, winning both National titles in April.

Is she moving away from the 400m? In 2022 she address this:
“I consider myself to be a 100m, 200m and 400m sprinter, this year’s focus just happens to be on the 100m and 200m. I am enjoying training and competing at the moment and I want to explore these events further to see how fast I can run - speed is a key component of 400m success.”

Education: Studying Education at Griffith University…Hobbies: Coffee, beach, farm or spending time with friends…Biggest Challenge: The transition from a junior to senior athlete and managing injuries throughout this period…Advice to your young self: Be patient and trust the process… Hometown- Burpengary, QLD 

@ November 2023 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au

World Athletics Profile  https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/ella-connolly-14517121