Sarah Billings

Sarah Billings
Billings in 2024
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1998-03-07) 7 March 1998
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Middle distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal bests800 m: 1:57.01 (Paris, 2026) AR
1500 m: 3:56.73 (Chorzow, 2026)
Mile: 4:32.30 (Whanganui, 2023)
3000 m: 8:47.11 (Sydney, 2024)
5000 m: 15:41.41 (Melbourne, 2024)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2026 Glasgow800 m
Oceania Athletics Championships
Bronze medal – third place2019 Townsville1500 m

Sarah Billings (born 7 March 1998) is a track and field athlete from Australia. The Oceanian record holder over 800 metres and the bronze medalist at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, she has also won the Australian Championships over 1500 metres.[1]

Early life

She attended Melbourne University.[2][3] Billings grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Kew and attended Ruyton Girls School.

Career

Billings competed at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in the 800 metres and 4 × 400 m 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 5000 m 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 1500 m 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] She won the 1500 m at the World Continental Tour Gold event in Tokyo on 19 May 2024.[16]

She was selected for the 800 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March 2025.[17] She finished second at the Australian Athletics Championships over 1500 metres in 4:11.51 on 12 April 2025.[18] She ran a personal best of 2:33.45 for the 1000 metres at the Xiamen Diamond League event in China, in April 2025.[19] Competing at the 2025 Shanghai Diamond League, she ran a personal best 1:57.83 to place second in the women's 800 m race.[20] On 6 June, she finished second over 1500 metres at the 2025 Golden Gala in Rome, part of the 2025 Diamond League, running 3:59.24.[21] She ran a 2:33.17 personal best over 1000 metres in Monaco at the 2025 Herculis.[22] She placed seventh in the 800 metres at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August.[23] In September 2025, she competed over 1500 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, without advancing to the semi-finals.[24][25]

On 10 April 2026, Billings was second across the line in the 1500 metres at the Australian Championships but was initially awarded the national title following the disqualification of Claudia Hollingsworth for a racing incident that saw Jessica Hull fall on the home straight, before Hollingsworth was later reinstated.[26][27] The following month, she placed eighth over 1500 metres at the 2026 Shanghai Diamond League, running a new personal best of 3:58.81.[28] Later that month, she ran a personal best 1:57.61 in the 800 metres in the 2026 Diamond League meeting in Rabat.[29] On 28 June, she set a new Oceanian record with 1:57.01 for the 800 metres at the 2026 Meeting de Paris.[30] On 31 July, Billings won the bronze medal over 800 metres at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, finishing a narrow 0.03-seconds behind silver medallist Lilian Odira.[31] On 23 August, she ran a 1500 m personal best of 3:56.73 in the Diamond League at the 2026 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Silesia, Poland.[32]

Personal life

Her brother Jack Billings is a former AFL player for St Kilda and Melbourne.[33]

References

  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. 18 November 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. ↑ "Seiko Golden Grand Prix Tokyo 2024 - Results". Watch Athletics. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "WORLD CHAMPIONS AND EMERGING SPRINTERS NAMED ON AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOR WORLD ATHLETICS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS". Athletics.com.au. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  18. ↑ "Australian Championships". World Athletics. 12 April 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  19. ↑ "Results - Xiamen Diamond League 2025". Watch Athletics. 26 April 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  20. ↑ "Tinch and Duplantis fly in Shanghai/Keqiao". World Athletics. 3 May 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  21. ↑ "GB's Hunt second in 200 m at Rome Diamond League meet". BBC Sport. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "Results - Monaco Diamond League Herculis 2025". Watch Athletics. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  23. ↑ "Results - Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League 2025". Watch Athletics. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  24. ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  25. ↑ "GREEN AND GOLD TO SHINE IN TOKYO WITH LARGEST ATHLETICS TEAM YET". Athletics.com.au. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  26. ↑ "KENNEDY AND MYERS SHINE UNDER FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS AT AUSTRALIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS". Athletics.com.au. 10 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  27. ↑ Shalala, Amanda (11 April 2026). "Claudia Hollingsworth sensationally reinstated as 1,500m national champion, after initial disqualification". abc.net. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "CALDWELL BREAKTHROUGH LIGHTS UP SHANGHAI DIAMOND LEAGUE OPENER". Australian Athletics. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Results - Rabat Diamond League 2026". Watch Athletics. 31 May 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Werro, Kebinatshipi and Paulino break Diamond League records in Paris". World Athletics. 28 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
  31. ↑ Moorhouse, Lachlan (31 July 2026). "BEACROFT MAKES GOLDEN COMMONWEALTH GAMES DEBUT". commonwealthgames.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Results - Silesia Diamond League 2026". Watch Athletics. 23 August 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Hard work is how Billings rolls". Herald Sun. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
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