Matt Denny, fuelled by missing the podium at the World Championships last month, has broken through for a Diamond League title and Eileen Cikamatana’s big lift at the Weightlifting World Championships secured bronze to highlight the weekend in Olympic sports.
Athletics – Track and Field athletes break national and continental records
Aussie track and field athletes finished the international season on a high at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, USA over the weekend.
Dual-Olympian Matt Denny defeated global heavy weights to seal his first Diamond League champion title, breaking his own national record in the process.

Matt set a new personal best of 68.43m, a 19cm improvement, with his final throw of the competition to shoot up to top spot for the win.
“I’m very happy with this today and it’s a great way to end the year,” Matt said.
“I was pretty keen to make amends for Budapest (4th at World Championships last month), so I’m happy with that.
“Nothing has really changed in regards to my focus for next year. I want to win (the Paris Olympic Games) and be on top, but this confirms my thoughts that I can mix it with the boys and take on those guys who are supposedly unbeatable.”
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers soared to new heights, breaking her shared Oceania record in the women’s high jump. Nicola’s 2.03m jump secured the silver medal behind Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh on a countback.

“I’m feeling really thankful of the year that’s been and the personal best was always the plan this year. To do it on my final competition was a blessing, and when I cleared 2.03m, I felt like I was running faster than I ever have before in those last few steps,” Nicola said.
“I want to do a personal best at the Olympic Games (next year).”
It capped a remarkable season of consistency for Nicola as finished on the podium at every one of her competitions in 2023.
Dual Olympian Kurits Marschall finished his Diamond League season with a fourth place finish in the men’s pole vault, clearing a height of 5.72m, behind USA’s Sam Kendricks, Christopher Nilsen and world record holder, Armand Duplantis (SWE).
World Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little backed up her performance at the Diamond League Final, claiming another bronze medal in the women’s javelin with a throw of 61.24m.
Middle-distance runner Linden Hall became the first Australian woman in history to shatter 3:57 in the 1500m, finishing in fifth place in a time of 3:56.92. Jessica Hull followed closely behind in eighth place, finishing in 3:57.57.
While back home at the Sydney Marathon on Sunday, Olympians Sinead Diver and Brett Robinson were the best placed Australians with times of 2:31.27 and 2:23.05 respectively, with both athletes finishing 8th.
Weightlifting – Bronze at World Champs for Eileen Cikamatana
Eileen Cikamatana has recorded back-to-back years of podium finishes at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships, securing a bronze medal in the women’s 81kg category.
Snatching 110kg and lifting 146kg on the clean & jerk, Eileen’s 256kg total lift was her biggest successful attempt in competition since 2019 and comes a year after she dropped down from the 87kg weight class.
The 2023 World Championship title and silver medal went to China’s Xiaomei Liang (S: 122kg, C&J: 159kg, T:281kg) and Zhouyu Wang (S: 122kg, C&J: 155kg, T: 277kg) respectively.
On Saturday Jackson Roberts-Young finished 17th in the men’s 109kg division, snatching 144kg and lifting 194kg for a 338kg total.
Judo - Aussie judokas shine at Pan American/Oceania Championships
Katharina Haecker had a golden moment in Calgary, Canada where she was one of twelve Aussie judokas competing at the Pan American Championships, which doubled as the Oceania Championships.
She took out the competition in the women’s -63kg class, while fellow Olympians Aoife Coughlan and Josh Katz both achieving silver in the women’s -70kg and men’s -60kg respectively.
Tinka Easton (women’s -52kg) and Maria Swan (women’s -78kg) also brought back bronze medals for Australia.
The five total medals for Australia placed the senior team fourth overall at the meet behind Brazil (1st), Canada (2nd) and Cuba (3rd).
Tennis – Davis Cup finals ticket booked
With a determination to improve on the Australian Davis Cup team’s runners-up finish at last year’s event, the team has defeated Switzerland in a do-or-die match to advance through to the quarter-finals.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alex de Minaur and the doubles pairing of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden all took care of business to win the final group stage tie 3-0.
The finals will be held in Malaga, Spain in November. Captained by Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian team haven’t won a Davis Cup title since 2003.
Gymnastics – Artistic – Aussies seeing silver at World Challenge Cup
Nine Aussies took to the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Paris, France with five of them recording top-eight finishes.
Georgia Godwin and Mitchell Morgans both took silver in the women’s vault final and men’s parallel bars final respectively.
For Georgia it kick starts her Olympic qualification campaign and Mitchell was one of only three athletes to complete a routine with a difficulty score of over 6 throughout the final.
Breanna Scott came as close as you can get to a top-three finish in the women’s balance beam final (fourth on a countback), with the top four gymnasts in the final all scored within 0.050 of each other. Georgia Godwin also placed fifth.
Balance Beam final at the World Challenge Cup in Paris 🇫🇷:
— FIG (@gymnastics) September 17, 2023
🥇 Marine Boyer 🇫🇷 13.500
🥈 Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿 13.500
🥉 Flavia Saraiva 🇧🇷 13.450#FIGWorldChallengeCup #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/rTEYlJ2z3z
Tyson Bull landed 6th in the men’s horizontal bar final, Clay Stephens 8th in the men’s floor exercise final and Georgia 5th in the women’s uneven bars final in the 2024 Olympic city.
It sets up the Artistic World Championships, taking place in Antwerp from Saturday 30 September an Olympic qualifying event with ten Australian gymnasts hoping to secure a place for Paris 2024.
Shooting – Tokyo 2020 Olympians stand out at Melbourne Grand Prix
Australia’s best shooting athletes gathered in Melbourne for the Pistol and Rifle Grand Prix, which had Tokyo 2020 Olympians putting on a show.
Each event on Saturday and Sunday had an Olympian take the top of the podium; which included Dan Repacholi (Men's 10m Air Pistol), Jack Rossiter (Men's 10m Air Rifle), Elise Collier (Women's 10m Air Rifle), Sergei Evglevski (Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol), Elena Galiabovitch (Women's 10m Air Pistol) plus Elise Collier and Dane Sampson in the mixed pair 10m Air Rifle.
The Grand Prix was the final selection event for the upcoming 2023 Oceania Championships from 30 October – 6 November in Brisbane.
Skateboarding - Street – Skaters take to the streets of Switzerland
Seven Australians competed at the World Street Tour (WST) in Lausanne, Switzerland over the weekend. Tommy Fynn and Liv Lovelace were our top performers, both placing 16th in the men's and women's field.