Sarah Billings Explained

Sarah Billings
Nationality:	Australian
Sport:	Athletics
Event:	Middle distance running
Birth Date:	7 March 1998
Pb:	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)

Sarah Billings (born 7 March 1998) is a track and field athlete from Australia. She is a former national champion 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 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]} She won the 1500m at the World Continental Tour Gold event in Tokyo on 19 May 2024.^[16]

Personal life

Her brother Jack Billings is an Australian Rules Football player.^[17]

Notes and References

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