The Lausanne Plan | Australians Poised for Diamond League Success

The Diamond League is set to make its next stop in Lausanne, Switzerland with no less than 11 Australians serving it to the world’s best.

Australian viewers can tune in live and free from 4:00am AEST, Saturday July 1 via the Diamond League YouTube Channel. Full start lists and more information can be found HERE.

Women’s High Jump (2:00am AEST, Friday June 30):

Kicking off proceedings with a street meet high jump prelude, Nicola Olyslagers (Matt Horsnell) is poised to face her biggest challenge of 2023 in the form of Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine).

Unbeaten from eight competitions to date this year, Olyslagers’ perfect season includes three wins on international soil this month with leaps of 2.00m, 2.01m and 1.99m. Sharing the world lead with her Ukrainian rival as the only two women to clear two metres in 2023, the streets of Lausanne will set the backdrop of a world-class battle.

The Olympic silver medallist and equal Australian record holder at 2.02m will be buoyed by the contest with her rival who owns a 2.05m best, with key developments on the women’s high jumping still to unfold ahead of the World Championships in Budapest this August.

Women’s Javelin (3:15am AEST, Saturday July 1):

A blockbuster affair awaits on the javelin runway in Lausanne as a field of 10 throwers who all own 63m+ personal bests battle it out, with back-to-back world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) and Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) vying to strengthen the nation’s grip on the event.

Barber will have the opportunity to etch her name into history as a three-time consecutive world champion this August, with a proven history of dismantling fields of this quality when it counts. Her career-best of 67.70m sits comfortably atop the field, but her season’s best throw of 62.54m ranks her sixth amongst her rivals– despite finishing in second place at the Paris Diamond League earlier this month.

Little will be eager to rediscover the form that saw her record a 64.10m effort in Yokohama this May, while Norway’s Sigrid Borge will throw as the current world-leader in 2023 at 66.50m.  

Women’s 800m (4:04am AEST, Saturday July 1):

Enjoying a strong season to date, Australian record holder Catriona Bisset (Ned Brophy-Williams) will look to dial up her season in Lausanne having raced consistently without a major breakthrough.

With seven races to her name outdoors this year within the range of 1:58.32 to 2:00.06, Bisset has produced her best results at her biggest races, including her national title win and second place finish at the Rabat Diamond League.

In what is expected to be a bustling affair behind Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) who last week roared to a new British record of 1:55.77 to open her campaign, Bisset is one of six athletes in the field who own a season’s best of 1:58, with the fierce competitor determined to be the first of those to cross the finish line.

Bisset’s Australian record stands at 1:58.09 from 2021.

Women’s Pole Vault (4:06am AEST, Saturday July 1):

Global medallist Nina Kennedy (Paul Burgess & James Fitzpatrick) has been jumping with confidence in 2023, hitting her straps with a season’s best of 4.77m to win at the Paris Diamond League last start.

Kennedy’s win in Paris built on her third place finish in Florence, now attacking Lausanne as the second highest vaulter in the world this year behind only reigning world champion Katie Moon (USA). Taking down Moon last start, the 26-year-old Australian continues to cement her status as a world title contender, eyeing big plans for Budapest having already taken a look at her Australian record this year.

Outside of Moon and Kennedy, the quality field also features 4.94m vaulter Eliza McCartney (New Zealand).

Men’s 5000m (4:50am AEST, Saturday July 1):

21-year-old Ky Robinson (Ricardo Santos) is set to continue his dream run in 2023 with his Diamond League debut, earning his maiden start fresh off winning a historic 5000m/10,000m double at the NCAA Championships this month.

A dual Australian representative in 2022, Robinson’s start in Lausanne is a credit to his competitiveness and potential – eager to close in on the 13:07.00 qualifying standard for this year’s Budapest World Championships.

His hopes will be aided in a fast field spearheaded by world record holder Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) and World Cross Country champion Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda), while Ethiopian duo Selemon Berega and Telahun Haile Bekele have also demonstrated strong form this year to round out the four men in the race who have shattered 13-minutes this year.

The Stanford University product has gone from strength-to-strength in 2023 after being the first Australian man home at February’s Bathurst World Cross Country Championships, with his 13:21.85 personal best over 5000m on borrowed time.

Fellow Queenslander Callum Davies will pace the race.

Men’s 1500m (5:39am AEST, Saturday July 1):

Not many events are hotter than the 1500m in 2023, and Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) is eager to reassert himself as a major player on the scene when returning to racing in Lausanne.

Leaving a peroneal tendon injury in his wake, the King Island product will face off against a field featuring long-time rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) and Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr (Great Britain). Along with those two men, McSweyn is one of only three athletes to feature in Lausanne who have broken the once elusive 3:30 barrier, despite eight men doing so in one race at Oslo’s Bislett Games this month.

A trailblazer in the Australian middle-distance ranks, McSweyn’s journey to full health will inevitably place him back in Australian record conversations but first the emphasis lies on his competitiveness in Lausanne.

Women’s 4x100m (5:52am AEST, Saturday July 1):

Australia will feature as one of eight teams in the Women’s 4x100m relay in Lausanne, with a final line-up to be confirmed.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 28/6/2023