
There was pre-Olympic cheer for three Australian Olympic medal hopes at the Diamond League event in London, the last major meet before the Games get underway in Paris.
To crown the day, the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team struck again with another record breaking performance that was rewarded with a fourth-placed finish.
Mackenzie Little, a Sydney doctor, set a personal best on the way to victory in the javelin on Saturday in front of a sell-out London Stadium crowd approaching 60,000.
Throwing second in the starting order, she launched her spear out to a PB of 66.27m in the opening round, moving her to second on this year’s world list and making her the fifth Australian woman to throw beyond 66 metres.
"I’ve felt really fulfilled working this year, so I think holistically I’ve been in a good mental space, despite it being busy and tiring sometimes," Little said.
Australian world champion Nina Kennedy overcame a mid-competition scare to win the women’s pole vault. She needed three attempts to get over 4.65m, but then went on to clear 4.85m to secure the win ahead of Canada’s Alysha Newman (4.75m).
"There was nothing on the line, I’d won the competition and I just wanted to see if I could clear it," Kennedy said, noting that her third attempt was "really, really close".
"With a bit more pressure and maybe with an Olympic medal riding on that jump, I definitely know I have it in me."
World indoor champion Molly Caudery was third (4.65m) and Olympic champion Katie Moon eighth (4.50m).

After a dramatic start in which three athletes took a tumble, the men’s Emsley Carr mile was won by Australia’s Ollie Hoare. The Australian held off a strong challenge from world bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas to win in 3:49.03, finishing 0.03 ahead of the Norwegian.
"I’ve been completing on the Diamond League for four years and I’ve never won one, so to win one was pretty awesome," Hoare said.
Running into the history books with their third Oceania record this year, the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team passed the baton around the track in a time of 42.48 seconds.
Exploding out of the blocks, the quartet of Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Kristie Edwards and Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis finished fourth behind the new world leaders Great Britain (41.55), France (42.10) as well as Great Britain’s second team (42.46).
"It felt great out there today. The conditions were great, there’s an amazing crowd of 60,000 out here, so it’s definitely a great confidence boost pre-Paris," Masters said.
"We’ve got so much depth in our squad and we’re so interchangeable and adaptable in any leg. We’ve proven that by breaking the record with changing team members."
The men’s 4x100m relay team of Sebastian Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi finished second behind Japan (38.07) in 38.31, for their fastest time as a team this year.