Catriona Bisset

Catriona Bisset

Bisset in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Catriona Li Bisset
Born	(1994-03-01) 1 March 1994 (age 30)[1] Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia[2]
Education	University of Melbourne[3]
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[4]
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Athletics
Event	Middle-distance running
Coached by	Ned Brophy-Williams (2021–)[5] Peter Fortune (2017–21)[6]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	800 m: 1:57.78 AR (London 2023) Indoors 800 m: 1:59.46 i AR (Birmingham 2022)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Australia Summer Universiade 2019 Naples 800 m Oceania Championships 2019 Townsville 800 m World Relays 2019 Yokohama Mixed 2×2×400 m

Catriona Bisset
Chinese	李克勤
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Kèqín

Catriona Li Bisset (born 1 March 1994) is an Australian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She holds the Oceanian record for both indoors and outdoors in the event, and won the gold medal at the 2019 Universiade. Bisset has four individual Australian national titles.

Career

Early years

Born in Newcastle and raised in Canberra, Bisset participated in Little Athletics from age 6.[2][7] She displayed potential as a youth, but withdrew from competition for several years as she improved her mental health.[3][6][8] During her undergraduate studies at the University of New South Wales, she began training with University of Sydney head coach Dean Gleeson.[7][9] She resumed racing in 2016.[1] The following year, Bisset moved from Sydney to Melbourne, and Gleeson introduced her to Peter Fortune, best known as the coach of 400-metre sprinter Cathy Freeman.[9][10]

2019: Breakthrough season

Bisset rose to national prominence in 2019. After improving her personal best throughout the domestic season, she won the 800 metres at the Australian Athletics Championships in 2:00.48.[11] One week later, she ran 1:59.78 at the UniSport National Championships to become the first Australian woman in a decade to break the two-minute barrier.[10]

In May, Bisset was selected for her first national team, representing Australia at the World Relays. She and Josh Ralph placed second in the first-ever mixed 2 × 2 × 400 m relay.[12] Bisset went on to win the 800 m at both the Oceania Championships[13] and Summer Universiade.[14] She made her Diamond League debut at the Anniversary Games in London in July, where she placed second behind Lynsey Sharp.[15] Her time of 1:58.78 set a new Australian record, surpassing the 43-year-old record set by Charlene Rendina, and qualifying Bisset for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[16] Two months later, she competed at the Doha World Championships in Qatar, but was hampered by injury and did not progress beyond the heats.[17]

2020–21

Bisset did not race internationally in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, this allowed her to continue aerobic training and fully recover from injury.[18]

In the 2021 domestic season, she performed at a high level, including a second Olympic qualifier of 1:59.12 to win at the Queensland Track Classic in March.[19] She also successfully defended her 800 m national title, officially securing her place on the Australian Olympic team.[20] On her return to the European circuit in June, Bisset improved her national record at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial with a time of 1:58.09, which also broke the Oceanian record set by Toni Hodgkinson in 1996.[21]

At the postponed Tokyo Olympics in July, Bisset ran 2:01.65 in the women's 800 m heats, narrowly missing her chance to advance.[22] She ended her season in September by competing in her first Diamond League final, running 1:59.66 for seventh at Weltklasse Zürich.[23] After the racing season, she began training with Linden Hall under the guidance of coach Ned Brophy-Williams.[5]

2022

Bisset made her indoor debut at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix in February. She ran 1:59.46 for second behind Keely Hodgkinson, setting another national and Oceanian record in the process.[24] She secured victories in the following two top-level World Indoor Tour meets, including the Copernicus Cup in Toruń, where she defeated Halimah Nakaayi.[5] Later in March, Bisset placed fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade with a time of 2:01.24.[25] Two weeks later, back outdoors in Australia, she ran 1:59.83 to win her third consecutive national title.[26] On the Diamond League circuit, she ran sub-two minutes in Rome, Oslo and Stockholm, including a season's best time of 1:58.54 to finish third in Stockholm behind Mary Moraa and Hodgkinson.[27]

In the first round of the World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in July, Bisset was knocked to the track and spiked by a competitor. Nonetheless, she completed the race and was added to the semi-final field by the race jury.[28] The following day, she ran with 11 stitches in her thigh and a swollen knee, but did not advance to the final.[29] Despite her injuries, she competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August, placing fifth in a time of 1:59.41.[30]

2023

In February, Bisset ran three World Indoor Tour races, including another indoor sub-two minutes.[1] Returning to Australia, she won the Brisbane Track Classic in 1:59.74.[31] She then won her fourth national title in a meet record of 1:58.32, the fastest time by an Australian on home soil.[32] At the end of her season, Track & Field News ranked Bisset seventh in the women's 800 metres, the first Australian to feature in the top-10 since Rendina in 1974.[33]

2024

Bisset faced strong domestic competition for a place on the Olympic team.[34] After failing to defend her national title, running 1:59.87 behind Claudia Hollingsworth, Abbey Caldwell and Bendere Oboya,[35] Bisset went on to run a season's best of 1:58.12 at the London Diamond League in July.[36] She competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she drew attention among Hong Kong citizens due to sharing the same Chinese name as the singer Hacken Lee.[37]

Statistics

International competitions

Representing  Australia

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	2nd	2 × 2 × 400 m relay	3:37.61
	Summer Universiade	Naples, Italy	1st	800 m	2:01.20
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	39th (h)	800 m	2:05.33
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	21st (h)	800 m	2:01.65
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	5th	800 m i	2:01.24
	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	26th (sf)	800 m	2:05.20
	Commonwealth Games	Birmingham, United Kingdom	5th	800 m	1:59.41
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	12th (sf)	800 m	1:59.94
2024	World Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	8th (sf)	800 m i	2:00.13
	Olympic Games	Paris, France	17th (rep)	800 m	2:02.35

Oceanian and National titles

• Oceania Area Championships in Athletics
  • 800 metres: 2019
• Australian Athletics Championships
  • 800 metres: 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • 4 × 400 m relay: 2019, 2021

Personal life

Bisset studied a postgraduate degree in architecture and diploma in Chinese language at the University of Melbourne.[38] Her mother was born in Nanjing, China.[7] Part of her schooling was at Melrose High School in the Woden Valley area of Canberra.[39]

References

1. "Catriona Bisset". World Athletics. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
2. "Catriona Bisset". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
3. Dye, Josh (7 April 2019). "National title has rising star Bisset dreaming of Tokyo". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
4. "BISSET Catriona". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
5. Moorhouse, Lachlan (1 March 2022). "Catriona Bisset | Minding Records, Hunting Wins". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022.
6. Gleeson, Michael (3 August 2019). "Australia's accidental track star". The Age. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
7. Landells, Steve (6 March 2020). "Winning her battles off the track, Bisset's rise continues on the track". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020.
8. Buratti, Liana (12 September 2019). "Catriona Bisset - Running my own race". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
9. "From the Clouds – Catriona Bisset Interview". Runner's Tribe. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
10. Lisson, Ben (1 June 2019). "Catriona Bisset, Australia's fastest woman to run 800m in a decade, reveals hurdles off the track". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
11. "Bisset claims shock victory in 800m". SBS. 7 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
12. Himmer, Alastair (12 May 2019). "First blood for USA at action-packed World Relays". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
13. "Bisset, Ralph win Oceania 800m titles". SBS. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
14. Salvado, John (22 July 2019). "Bisset smashes Australian 800m record". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
15. MacInnes, Paul (21 July 2019). "Dina Asher-Smith proud to finish second in 100m final at London Stadium". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
16. "Australian record for Catriona Bisset leads the way for Australia at the London Diamond League". Athletics Australia. 22 July 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019.
17. Salvado, John (28 September 2019). "McSweyn charges into world 5000m final". Seven News. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019.
18. Johnson, Len (21 March 2020). "With competitions on hold, flexibility is key as athletes continue to pursue their 2020 ambitions". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020.
19. Gleeson, Michael (28 March 2021). "Browning quickest man ever in Australia, now for 100m in Tokyo". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021.
20. Houston, Michael (19 April 2021). "Stevens, Hall and Bisset among Australian athletics additions to Tokyo 2020 team". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021.
21. "Australia's Catriona Bisset breaks national 800m record ahead of Tokyo Olympics". ABC News. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
22. "Athletics - Round 1 - Heat 5 Results". IOC. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021.
23. Chadband, Ian (10 September 2021). "Barber, McSweyn shine in Diamond finale". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021.
24. Rowbottom, Mike (19 February 2022). "Duplantis misses world record by whisker in Birmingham as Hodgkinson smashes British 800m indoor record". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022.
25. Turnbull, Simon (21 March 2022). "Wilson brings her A game to claim global 800m gold in devastating fashion". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022.
26. Ryner, Sascha; Moorhouse, Lachlan (2 April 2022). "Seven track and field champions added to the Australian team for Worlds". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022.
27. Govender, Mohen (1 July 2022). "Patterson leaps to victory in Stockholm". Seven News. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.
28. Salvado, John (22 July 2022). "Bisset's big reprieve after big fall, Bol squeaks into final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.
29. Gates, Zachary (1 August 2022). "'Freak accident' fuelling Catriona Bisset's hunger in bid for Commonwealth Games medal". Nine's Wide World of Sports. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.
30. Ryner, Sascha; Stevens, Jake (7 August 2022). "Golden day for Marschall, Montag & Hoare in Birmingham". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.
31. Stannard, Damien (25 March 2023). "Bisset stars, Browning beaten in Brisbane Track Classic". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023.
32. Moorhouse, Lachlan; Ryner, Sascha (2 April 2023). "World Class Best for Last". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023.
33. Johnson, Len (8 January 2024). "Bisset Breaks Long Drought As 10 Australians Ranked". Runner's Tribe. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024.
34. Gleeson, Michael (11 April 2024). "Why Australia's two fastest women might not make the Olympic team". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 April 2024.
35. Moorhouse, Lachlan (14 April 2024). "Hollingsworth wins hottest race of the year, Mitrevski leaps to Paris". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024.
36. "Nina Kennedy, Mackenzie Little and Oliver Hoare all win at the London Diamond League ahead of the Paris Olympics". ABC News. 21 July 2024. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024.
37. "李克勤出戰巴黎奧運？　澳洲女跑手撞名　網友社交網問是否曼迷 (19:31)". Ming Pao (in Traditional Chinese). 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024.
38. Kandel, Imogen Craddock (20 June 2024). "Finding your own pace: a runner's unconventional approach to studying architecture". Melbourne School of Design. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024.
39. "Past Students - Where are they now?". Melrose High School. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2022.

External links

• Official website of Catriona Li Bisset 李克勤
• Catriona Bisset at World Athletics
• Catriona Bisset at the Australian Olympic Committee
• Catriona Bisset at Olympics.com
• Catriona Bisset at Olympedia (archive)