World championships close in Beijing

The 2015 IAAF Athletics World Championships concluded in Beijing on Sunday evening, with Brandon Starc and Dani Samuels highlighting the NSWIS results after finals appearances in their events.

Starc created history to make the final of the men’s high jump, setting a new personal best of 2.31m to become just the sixth athlete in history to reach that mark in the qualifying round of a world championship event.

The 21 year old was the first Australian since Tim Forsyth in 1997 to reach a world championship final, where he eventually finished 12th, and moved to second on the Australian all-time list.

Samuels posted the best finish of any NSWIS athlete at the championships with her sixth placing in the women’s discus.

The 2009 world champion started with a throw below 60m before improving to 62.90m with her second throw, eventually posting her best throw of 63.14 in the fourth round of the final.

Also at the championships, Anneliese Rubie helped the Australian women’s 4x400m relay team post a season’s best time of 3:28.61 en route to a sixth placing in the heats of the event, while Michelle Jenneke became just the fourth Australian woman to qualify for the semi-finals of the women’s 110m hurdles, where she finished sixth.