Field stars lay the foundation for Australian success in Glasgow 

The Australian Athletics Team for the Commonwealth Games is stacked with established and emerging stars in able-bodied and Para-Athletics events, across the track and field.

And while track athletes are often the talk of the town, it is in field events where more Australians are leading the world rankings, have titles to defend and have the opportunity to create more history at these Games. 

Team flag bearer Nina Kennedy (WA, James Fitzpatrick), Kurtis Marschall (WA, Declan Carruthers), Matthew Denny (QLD, Dale Stevenson) and Nicola Olyslagers (New South Wales Institute of Sport/NSWIS, Matt Horsnell) are all on top of the world rankings. These athletes have been continually improving and taking on the world’s best together since the World Under 20 Championships in 2014.

Glasgow 2014 champion and former high jump world champion Eleanor Patterson (NSWIS, Fayaaz Caan) is ranked second behind Olyslagers. Morgan Lake (ENG) has also cleared two metres and will be their biggest challenger, in what promises to be one of the most hotly contested field titles in Glasgow. The Games record of 1.96m looks set to be broken on night two of competition at Scotstoun Stadium.

Fellow high jumper Yual Reath (VIC, Mike Barber) has the opportunity to become Australia’s first athletics medallist in Glasgow. With a season’s best of 2.28m, the 26-year-old landscape gardener believes he can match his career best of 2.30m and be in the medal hunt. With New Zealand’s Olympic champion Hamish Kerr withdrawing, Kimani Jack (ENG) and Sarvesh Anil Kushare (IND), who have jumped 2.31m this year, are the favourites.  

Marschall is aiming to be the first Australian field athlete, and male in any event, to win three consecutive Commonwealth titles. The six-metre man and World Championship medallist is having the best year of his life, with his biggest competition likely to come from England’s Owen Heard or the Scottish weather.

Kennedy and Denny have also prioritised the Commonwealth Games this year, and defending their titles for Australia. 

Denny is the Australian and Oceania record holder and #2 on the world all-time list with his personal best of 74.78m. The Men’s Discus Throw is one of the toughest field events on the program to win, with four other men having personal bests of over 70m. But with his wife and son watching on, Denny has the extra motivation to win on the final morning session of athletics (Saturday 1 August), and he wants the gold and a 70+ metre throw. 

Kennedy has bounced back from missing the 2025 World Championships through injury and subsequent surgery, to be in career-best form with 4.95m this season. While she is on a mission to clear five metres, her focus is on the win in Glasgow and holding off the challenge from three talented jumpers from across the ditch. Eliza McArtney (NZL) has a lifetime best of 4.94m and a season best of 4.81m, and Imogen Ayris (NZL) has also cleared 4.81m this year.  

Javelin thrower Mackenzie Little (NSWIS, Angus McEntyre) won silver at Birmingham and is a World Championships bronze medallist. She is ranked fourth in the world and has the best career best (66.27m) but will not have it her own way in the eight-woman final chasing Glasgow gold. Lianna Davidson (NSWIS, Don Babbitt), who is based in the US for most of the year, will provide a strong challenge for Little, with Rhema Otabor (BAH) in the best form this season with 64.19m.  

Training partner Cameron McEntyre (NSWIS, Angus McEntyre) arrives in Glasgow in red-hot form. He improved his personal best by almost three metres to 85.73m earlier this month. The 27-year-old World Championship finalist is on his sixth national team and ready to improve on his seventh from 2022. The start list almost mirrors an Olympic field, with six athletes having thrown over 90m in their careers.  

The Men’s Long Jump field at Glasgow 2026 is also stacked with talent. To reach the final and challenge for the podium Liam Adcock (QLD, self-coached) and Chris Mitrevski (VIC, Alex Stewart) will need to pull out a big distance to match former World Champion Tajah Gayle (JAM) and Shreeshanka (IND). Adcock is a World Indoor Medallist and jumped close to his best of 8.34m earlier in the year, but a niggling injury has impacted recent competitions. Mitrevski has been training well and will need to get close to his best of 8.32m.   

Long jumper Brooke Buschkuehl (VIC, self-coached),who became a mum to Bobby 12 months ago, is determined to turn her two Commonwealth silvers into gold in Glasgow. The Australian Record Holder (7.13m) has jumped 6.79m and has been in great form in Europe. However, Delta Amidzovski (NSWIS, Becky Amidzovski), at just 19, is a real chance on debut. She has jumped 6.84m this year and almost clinched the national title from Buschkuehl. Jasmin Sawyers (ENG) and Akelia Smith (JAM) have both also jumped over 6.8 metres this year and seven metres in their careers. 

Fellow long jumper Layla Sharp (NSWIS, Greg Smith, T38) has only been focusing on long jump for eight months, and the Australian Record Holder (4.86m) for her class is aiming to surpass five metres in Glasgow, which would put the 18-year-old right in gold medal contention. She will be representing Australia for the second time along with teenage debutants Ayla Kowalczyk (NSW, Zenon Kowalczyk) and Sienna Newton (NSW, Andrew Murphy). These young Paralympic athletes have been in camp with Buschkuehl and Amidzovski to get to know them and learn from their professionalism in preparation.

Triple jumper Desleigh Owusu (NSWIS, Andrew Muprhy) makes her Commonwealth Games debut. Owusu jumped 13.86m to win bronze at the World University Games last year. If she can get herself over the 14-metre milestone, she could challenge for the podium again.  

Heptathletes Mia Scerri (VIC, Ralph Newton) and Tori West (QLD, Eric Brown & Sam Leslie) will be in the mix for the medals if they can replicate their season-best scores of 6175 points and 6172 points respectively. Both athletes are making their Commonwealth Games debuts, with Australian champion Scerri only 21-years-old and Olympian West (30) having the experience. Jade O’Dowa (ENG) has a season best of 6350.

Marley Raikiwasa (SA, Joe Riccio) makes her senior debut for Australia in Glasgow in the Women’s Shot Put. She will be the first Australian to compete in the event at the Commonwealth Games for 12 years and her personal best of 17.57m in May moved her to #4 Australian all-time with the longest throw by an Australian for 38 years. She is ranked sixth on season best performances in the field.

In the Women’s Hammer Throw, Lara Roberts (QLD, Matt Horneman) and Stephanie Ratcliffe (VIC, Dale Stevenson) have been training well in Barcelona and are looking to throw over 70 metres to put themselves in the mix of a strong and big field. They take on Olympic champion and two-time World Champion Camryn Rogers of Canada. 

Discus thrower Michael Burian (VIC, Dale Stevenson) is a three-time javelin throwing medallist at four global championships and the Melbourne Paralympian, classified F64, has successfully pivoted to the discus at Glasgow 2026. Being so new to this event, he’ll draw on all his championship experience to secure a strong result in the 10-man field.

Ainsley Hooker (QLD, self-coached) and Julie Charlton (NSW, self-coached) will compete in the Women’s Shot Put F55-57, the first field final of the meet on Monday night. Hooker is the oldest team debutant at 39, having taken up sport late in life following a below-knee amputation six years ago. This is Charlton’s second Commonwealth Games and, despite an interrupted preparation, she is aiming to improve on her ninth place from 2022. 

In the Men’s Shot Put F57, Matthew Sheppard (QLD, Greg Hamilton) represents Australia for the first time. The 37-year-old father of three broke his back in a gym accident around 17 years ago, but being wheelchair bound has never stopped his interest in sport and fitness. 

Sheppard and Hooker have relished the opportunity to train alongside the likes of Denny, Roberts and Ratcliffe in the throws circles at the Barcelona training camp ahead of the Games.

Over the 12 sessions of competition and six days, Australia’s most accomplished global competitors will inspire the next generation of field event champions.

Andrew Reid, Commonwealth Games Australia