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Pole vault star Nina Kennedy is one of five Australian record holders in action on day 5 of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. 

Western Australian Kennedy is hoping to improve on the bronze disc she pocketed in Oregon 12 months ago, cruising into the final with a clean sheet through to automatic qualification at 4.65m on Day 3.  

“I went to worlds last year hoping to do my best but coming into these championships, I want to win," Kennedy said. "It’s no secret that I want to be on that podium and at the top and there’s no reason why that gold can’t be mine."

Despite an interrupted start to her 2023 campaign, the Australian record holder at 4.82m feel in good shape to add her maiden world title to a growing list of accolades. 

Kennedy's main competition will be USA’s reigning Olympic and world champion Katie Moon, who owns a 4.95m personal best, Slovenia’s Tina Sutej (4.82m) and Finland’s Wilma Murto (4.85m).

“They talk to me differently and I talk to them differently and we are playing some mind games, so that is a part of the sport I quite like," Kennedy said. "I don’t think they see me as taking the gold but they definitely see me as a threat. We all know that whoever wins will be the person who pieces it together perfectly.”

Kick-starting his third world championships campaign will be Kurtis Marschall as he takes on the Men’s Pole Vault Qualification; an event that looms as a mere formality for the in-form Australian who has piled on the centimetres to his personal best this year, which stands at 5.95m.

Australia’s sprint hurdlers will occupy two lanes in today’s Women’s 100m Hurdles Semi-Finals, but both Michelle Jenneke (NSW, Gary Bourne) and Celeste Mucci (VIC, Darren Clark) are acutely aware that 24 does not go into eight ahead of the final.

Australia’s second fastest hurdler in history behind only Sally Pearson, Jenneke is no stranger to the big stage, having nailed an Olympic qualifier of 12.71 (+0.4) in yesterday’s heats. The 30 year-old will race in Semi-Final three and go head-to-head with Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR), while Mucci takes on a star-studded Semi-Final two which includes reigning world champion and world record holder Tobi Amusan (NGR).

Australia will field a three-pronged attack in the Women’s Javelin Qualification, spearheaded by back-to-back world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, who opens her bid for a historic three-peat. Joined by Mackenzie Little and Australian record holder Kathryn Mitchell, the trio will look to emulate their Tokyo Olympic Games heroics when all finishing inside the top eight of the final.

Little’s 65.70m career-best from June’s Lausanne Diamond League remains the third longest throw in the world this year, with the Australian sitting pretty as world rank number two, and big-time performer Barber ranked world number four. Lining up for her fifth World Championships, Mitchell will be out to qualify for yet another global final at 41 years-old.

Rising star Stephanie Ratcliffe takes to the Women’s Hammer Throw Qualification fresh off an Australian record of 73.63m. Ranked 11th in the field on season’s best, the Harvard University student will need to bring her best at her international debut – with 12 spots up for grabs in Day six's final.

The Men’s Long Jump Qualification will see another trio of Australians launch their bid for a berth in the final, with Chris Mitrevski, Liam Adcock and Henry Frayne taking to the runway. Australian champion Adcock has been in-form in 2023, but all three men possess personal bests well over the eight-metre marker.

A buffet of first-round appearances ranging from 200m through to 5000m will be on offer on Day five, led by Oceania record holder Catriona Bisset over 800m, while Australian Under 20 200m record holder Aidan Murphy  lines up for his second World Championships. 

Along with Abbey Caldwell and Ellie Sanford (VIC, Terri Cater), the Bisset-led trio will be eager to build on the nation’s middle-distance resurgence and book their ticket to the semi-finals.

It’s a quick turnaround for Hull after finishing seventh in last night’s Women’s 1500m Final, but the versatile middle-distance sensation will be confident in advancing to the Women’s 5000m Final with a 14:43.80 personal best to her name – another of her six national records. Lauren Ryan will toe the line for her second senior team, having made her debut at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, while Olympian Rose Davies rounds out the Australian contingent in the race around 12 and a half laps.

Rounding out the action on the track, the steeplechase contingent of Amy Cashin, Cara Feain-Ryan and Brielle Erbacher, will take on the tough task of the cut-throat Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Heats.

Cashin is the owner of the fastest personal best of the three with her 9:21.46 performance at the 2022 World Championships landing her fourth on the Australian all-time list. Feain-Ryan approaches in scorching form after roaring to the 2023 World University Games title earlier this month, while Erbacher also makes back-to-back World Championships appearances.

Ella Connolly (NSW) was due to compete in the Women’s 200m but has withdrawn due to injury.