IAAF World Athletics Championships underway this weekend

London is the setting for the World Championships for Athletics starting this weekend. The IAFF World Athletics Championships will commence on Saturday with fourteen athletes taking part who have benefitted from the NSW Institute of Sport services.

Seven NSWIS scholarship holders and another seven supported athletes will represent Australia at the biennial event, the pinnacle of the IAFF athletics calendar.

Milly Clark
In mid-2015 Clark made a low-key marathon debut in the Blacktown Twin Cities marathon. Later that year, she had a breakthrough at the 2015 Amsterdam Marathon, placing third in an Olympic qualifier and the eighth best Australian all-time performance ever (2:29:07). Selected for the Olympic Games she was the first Australian home in 18th place, running a tremendous time of 2:30.53. She became just the fourth Australian to place top-20 at the Olympics.

Madeline Hills
Selected for Rio in the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m, Madeline Hills was brilliant. After running well in the heats, she clocked personal bests on the biggest stage in sport – the Olympic Games finals. She was seventh in the steeplechase with 9:20.38 and tenth in the 5000m with 15:04.05. Injured over summer, upon her return to the track in May 2017, she surprised with a massive 10,000m PB of 31:41.10, a minute from her previous best, to fifth on the Australian all-time list and achieve a 2017 IAAF World Championships qualifier.

Ella Nelson
Ella Nelson’s 2016 season was a revelation. It started in Canberra in February destroying her 100m and 200m PBs. She had run the fastest time by an Australian for over 15 years in the 200m and was now the seventh fastest in Australian history. At the Rio Olympics she was tremendous, missing the 200m final by just 0.01 seconds after clocking another personal best of 22.50.

Anneliese Rubie
Selected for Rio, she delivered a magnificent campaign. Advancing to the 400m semi-final, she was a key member of the 4x400m relay team that placed eighth in the final. After dabbling with the 800 metres over the last few years, Anneliese turned to the event fulltime in 2017. She raced on nine occasions domestically, and placed second at Nationals. It was not until she travelled to the USA in May she set a PB of 2:02.18.

Dani Stevens
Dani Samuels is one of the few athletes to have won the IAAF World Youth, World Junior and World Championship titles. As a junior, she also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Rio was her third Olympics after her debut in 2008. The following year (2009), she shocked winning gold at the 2009 IAAF world championships in Berlin. She became the youngest ever world discus champion. Over the next eight years she won World University Games (2009) and Commonwealth Games (2014) titles. She was also on the podium at the 2014 Continental Cup. In Rio, she placed a magnificent fourth, just missing a medal by 44cm.

Jessica Thornton
At 200m, she ran four consecutive PBs ending with 23.26 – the fastest 200m time by Australian junior for 19 years and just outside qualification for the Rio Olympics. Over 400m she was just as impressive. A PB domestically, placing second in the national senor championships, ahead of two career bests at the IAAF World Juniors where she placed fourth and missed a medal by less than 0.01 of a second. Her best of 52.05, now placed her third on the U20 Australian All Time List, behind Olympic champion Cathy Freeman and world champion Jana Pittman. She was selected for Rio – the youngest member of the Australian track and field team. A key member of the 4x400m relay, she led the team off in the heats with a stunning time of 51.7 from the blocks. The team progressed to the final where they placed eighth.

Eloise Wellings
At the Rio Olympics, on the very first morning of the athletics competition, Eloise Wellings recorded a PB, moved to number three in Australian history, and her 10th place was the best ever performance by an Australian women in the 10,000m at the Olympics. Four days later she returned to the track to compete in the 5000m heats where she led an Australian assault with our three first ever qualifiers for the Olympic final. In the final she was the first Aussie in ninth place, our best ever performance. Her time was 15:01.59, her best time for 10 years and one day, since she set her PB in 2006.