MORNING SESSION: 10:00am – 1:30pm 

The day begins in the field with Kurtis Marschall in the qualification round of the men’s pole vault (10:40 am AEST), with the 24-year-old to take to the runway in pursuit of the automatic progression mark of 5.80m 

A gold medallist at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Marschall will compete at his second Olympic Games after a challenging couple of days that included an unsubstantiated exposure to coronavirus that forced his isolation from the Australian athletics team. 

Marschall was inspired by Steve Hooker's gold medal heroics in Beijing. He attended a ‘come-and-try’ day aged 12 in Adelaide where he jumped two metres to begin a journey that now sees his personal best at 5.81m. 

Also in the field is is Dani Stevens at her fourth Olympics (11:55 AEST). The former world champion and silver medallist and fourth in Rio has done a remarkable job to be here after injury and will be looking to throw her way into another Olympic final. Stevens' season best of 63.36m is close to the automatic qualifying distance of 64.00m or top 12 distances from the two groups.

Stevens is an athlete to have benefited from the delayed Games. In February 2020, just before COVID shut down the Games, Stevens suffered a serious gym accident. She wrote on instagram: "I axed myself doing a lift. It took about a week to realise the full damage that I had done as the nerve pathway that runs down the front of my right arm (C5) had completely shut down due to compression. My C4/5 disc (neck) had popped out and shattered in two.”

After an operation and nearly a year of rehabilitation, she was back throwing Olympic qualifiers in early 2021, a remarkable return. Competing in the qualifying rounds, she will be taking it step at a time in Tokyo, initially just looking for a berth in the final.

Sarah Carli is the first Aussie on the track in heat 4 of the women’s 400m hurdles (10:24am AEST), Liz Clay in the women’s 100m hurdles and the trio of Peter Bol, Jeff Riseley and Charlie Hunter in the heats of the men’s 800m join Marschall in the competition arena. 

Carli and Clay are inspired by the gold medal winning performances of Debbie Flintoff-King and Sally Pearson in their respective events, and join Hunter as Olympic debutants after the Oregon, USA middle-distance charge ran 1:44.35 to ensure his selection. 

Riseley joins illustrious company including Steve Moneghetti as a four-time Olympian after a clutch 1:45.20 run to ensure his selection to the Australian Olympic Team in July, while Bol will compete at his second Olympic Games after being eliminated in the heats at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

EVENING SESSION: 8:00pm – 11:00pm 

Matthew Denny headlines action as competition returns in the evening, with the 24-year-old to take to the thrower’s circle for the final of the men’s discus throw after a 65.13m performance in the qualification round saw him rank fourth to secure his spot in the duel for medals. The final is at 9:15am AEST.

Like Marschall, Denny is a silver medallist from the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he competed in the hammer throw, and in Tokyo, he has his sights set on improving his personal best of 66.15m to challenge for a spot on the podium. 

Rohan Browning is set to start in the heats of the men’s 100m, with the 23-year-old taking to the start line with a wind-assisted season best of 9.96 (w: +3.3) and Olympic qualifier of 10.05 under his belt. 

Browning is coached by three-time Olympian Andrew Murphy and has experience in the short sprint from both the World Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games. 

Rounding out the starters is Henry Frayne, with the 31-year-old competing in the men’s long jump at his third Olympic Games. A silver medallist at the World Athletics Indoor Championships and the Commonwealth Games, he needs to place in the top-12 jumpers to ensure his start in the final later in the program. 

Cody Lynch