Stockholm, Sweden — On a crisp Scandinavian evening, Australia’s Linden Hall produced one of the finest runs of her career, storming to a dominant 3000-metre victory at the Bauhaus-galan Diamond League meeting, stopping the clock at 8:30.01.
Primarily coached by Ned Brophy-Williams, with support from Michael Orchard in Victoria, Hall settled mid-pack through the opening kilometre before locking into a metronomic rhythm of 66-second laps. With 300 metres to go, she surged to the front and never looked back, pulling Uganda’s Sarah Chelangat to a national record of 8:31.27. British teenagers Innes FitzGerald (8:32.90 PB) and Hannah Nuttall (8:33.82 PB) followed, with Kenya’s Caroline Nyaga rounding out the top five in 8:34.79.
“I didn’t feel too good in the early stages of the race but luckily, I came good at the end,” Hall said. “I did a lot of the work mostly by myself in the last kilometre, so it was really encouraging to get a five-second personal best.”
With her first Diamond League victory over the distance and a five-second PB, Hall heads to Paris with momentum—and a birthday 1500m race ahead.
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Meanwhile, Nicola Olyslagers lit up the in-field with a gutsy performance in the women’s high jump. Clearing 2.01m on her first attempt—equal to her season’s best—she claimed victory over Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh (2.00m), who passed on her remaining attempts and faltered at 2.03m.
“It required me to be bold,” Olyslagers said. “This victory has taught me a lot about myself… it was a really great day.”
Tokyo silver medallist Eleanor Patterson (coached by Fuzz Caan and Marco Fassinotti) also featured, clearing 1.91m before exiting at 1.95m for equal fourth.
The Australian podium haul continued across the board:
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Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess) claimed silver in the men’s pole vault with a 5.90m clearance, sandwiched between Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, who set a new world record at 6.28m, and American Sam Kendricks.
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Ky Robinson (Dathan Ritzenhein) shattered the 13-minute barrier for the first time, running 12:58.38 for bronze in the 5000m behind Sweden’s Andreas Almgren (European record 12:44.27) and Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma (12:57.46). Robinson now sits third on the Australian all-time list, behind Craig Mottram and Stewart McSweyn.
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Matthew Denny (Dale Stevenson) delivered yet again in the men’s discus, launching 68.14m to finish third behind Kristjan Čeh (69.73m) and Daniel Stahl (69.53m).
Other Australian results in Stockholm:
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Sarah Carli (Abbie Taddeo) clocked 55.42 for seventh in the 400m hurdles
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Torrie Lewis (Laurent Meuwly) ran 23.50 (+2.2) for eighth in the women’s 200m pre-program
The Stockholm leg of the Diamond League marked a major leap forward for the Australian team’s momentum heading into the World Championships in Tokyo.
With Hall’s bold run, Olyslagers’ psychological win, and three more podium finishes, the Aussies look increasingly ready for the world stage.
