Australia’s track and field squad delivered a standout performance at the 2025 FISU World University Games, finishing atop the athletics medal table after a golden final day in Bochum, Germany.
With five golds, two silvers and three bronzes across seven days of competition, it was the Australia’s most successful World University Games campaign, and a sign of growing depth across sprints, jumps, endurance and multi-events.
Georgia Harris Sparks Gold Rush
The momentum began early with 21-year-old Georgia Harris storming to victory in the women’s 100m. The Queenslander looked sharp across all three rounds, and produced her best when it mattered, clocking 11.44 (-0.3) in the final to take gold by five hundredths of a second.
“It’s incredible, I’m lost for words,” Harris said post-race. “I did not expect that — not even in my wildest dreams.”
It was Australia’s first medal in athletics at the Games and the beginning of a run few would have predicted.
Bronze Breakthrough: Surch and Anastasios
Two days later, Australia added a pair of bronze medals.
In the heptathlon, Emelia Surch became just the ninth Australian woman to surpass 6,000 points. A personal best of 42.13m in the javelin and a gutsy 2:13.66 over 800m lifted her to 6,068 — just enough to hold off a late surge from Poland’s Edyta Bielska.
In the men’s high jump, Roman Anastasios rebounded from early misses to clear 2.20m on his first attempt, enough to take bronze on countback in a four-way tie for third.
Day Six: Murphy and Guse Deliver Gold
Australia’s golden charge gathered pace on day six, with Connor Murphy and Benjamin Guse claiming victories in the triple jump and decathlon.
Murphy, seeded fifth coming into the men’s triple jump, stepped up when it counted — sailing out to 16.77m in round four to claim gold. He landed all six jumps over 16 metres in a show of class and consistency.
Guse was next. The 21-year-old decathlete pieced together nine personal bests from ten events — closing with a brilliant 1,500m win to finish on 7,918 points. It was a 343-point improvement on his previous best and a breakthrough performance that confirmed him as one of the sport’s rising all-rounders.
Golden Finish: McMillen and Relay Deliver
The UniRoos saved their best for last.
Racewalker Elizabeth McMillen powered to a commanding win in the women’s 20km walk, clocking 1:28:18 to break the FISU Games record and take her first international title. The New South Welshwoman, now training in South Australia, pulled away in the closing kilometres to win by 14 seconds, also leading Australia to silver in the team standings.
And then came the relay.
In one of the tightest finishes of the meet, the women’s 4x100m team of Harris, Kristie Edwards, Olivia Inkster and Jessica Milat crossed in 43.46s, edging Switzerland by just 0.01 seconds to clinch gold.
For Harris, it was her second gold of the Games. For the team, it was the fifth and a fitting end to a record-breaking week.
Best-Ever Campaign
In all, Australia left Bochum with five gold, two silver and three bronze medals in athletics. There were breakthrough individual wins, depth across event groups, and a statement of intent ahead of next year’s senior international calendar.
