Sarah Billings (born 7 March 1998) is a track and field athlete from Australia. She is a former national champion over 1500 metres.[1]

Sarah Billings
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1998-03-07) 7 March 1998 (age 26)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventMiddle distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800’: 2:00.55 (Canberra, 2024)
1500m: 3:59.59 (Xiamen, 2023)
Mile: 4:32.30 (Whanganui, 2023)
3000m: 8:47.11 (Sydney, 2024)
5000m: 15:41.41 (Melbourne, 2024)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Australia
Oceania Athletics Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Townsville 1500 m

Early life edit

She attended Melbourne University.[2][3]

Career edit

Billings competed at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in the 800 metres and 4 x 400m relay.[4] The following year, she won the national U20 title over 800 metres.[5] She won the Australian national 1500 metres title in Melbourne in December 2019.[6][7] However, a string of injuries limited her to just four races over the two-year period of 2020–2021.[8]

She was a pacemaker at the Diamond League event in Stockholm in 2022.[9] In November 2022, she won the Victorian 5000m Championships at Box Hill, Victoria.[10] In February 2023, she ran a personal best of 4:32.30 for the mile to finish second at the Cooks Classic Mile in Wanganui.[11] In June 2023, she acted as a pacemaker for Beatrice Chebet to break a 24-year old meet record at the Diamond League event in Oslo.[12]

She ran a personal best of 4:38.97 for the road Mile at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga.[13]

In April 2024, she finished fourth in the woman's 1500m at the Australian Athletics Championships. The following week she set a new personal best of 3:59.59 for the distance, inside the Olympic qualifying time for the 2024 Games in Paris, at the 2024 Xiamen Diamond League.[14][15]

Personal life edit

Her brother Jack Billings is an Australian Rules Football player.[16]

References edit

  1. ^ "Sarah Billings". World Athletics. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Baden and Billings lead medal haul in Sydney". muac.org. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  3. ^ "800m record lasts just 9 days as Billings flies at Hunter". muac.org. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Suck it up and work your butt off". 30 November 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  5. ^ Turner, David (13 April 2017). "Young middle-distance squad at Box Hill Athletics Club is taking great strides forward". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Zatopek:10 - Australian 10,000m Championships". World Athletics. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  7. ^ "National Record To McSweyn – Zatopek:10 2019". Inside Athletics. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  8. ^ Wolff, Riley (17 May 2022). "THE RETURN OF SARAH BILLINGS". Tenpo Journal. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Mary Moraa storms to victory in the Stockholm Diamond League". pd.co.ke. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Sarah Billings and Lachlan Herd claim Victorian 5000m titles". Runnerstribe. November 18, 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Whanganui Cooks Gardens remains the home of the mile". New Zealand Herald. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  12. ^ Ng'Ang'A, Samuel (16 June 2023). "Chebet breaks 24-year meet record at Oslo Diamond League". The-star.co.ke. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  13. ^ Moorhouse, Lachlan (13 October 2023). "BREAKING DOWN TO BREAKING THROUGH - BILLINGS RETURNS TO WORLD STAGE". Athletics.com.au. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  14. ^ "TEEN SENSATION LEWIS STUNS WORLD CHAMPION IN DIAMOND LEAGUE DEBUT". Athletics.com. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Wanda Diamond League Xiamen". World Athletics. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Hard work is how Billings rolls". Herald Sun. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2024.