Catriona Bisset (born 1 March 1994) is an Australian

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who specialises in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. She holds the Oceanian record for both indoors and outdoors in the event, and won the gold medal at the 2019 Universiade. Bisset took four individual Australian national titles.

Career

Early years

Born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and raised in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Bisset participated in

Little Athletics Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory); 3 ...

from age 6. She displayed potential as a youth, but withdrew from competition for several years as she improved her

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

. During her undergraduate studies at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, she began training with

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

head coach Dean Gleeson. She resumed racing in 2016. The following year, Bisset moved from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, and Gleeson introduced her to Peter Fortune, best known as the coach of 400-metre sprinter

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

2019: Breakthrough season

Bisset rose to national prominence in 2019. After improving her personal best throughout the domestic season, she won the

at the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlet ...

in 2:00.48. 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. 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. Bisset went on to win the 800 m at both the Oceania Championships and

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. She made her

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

debut at the

Anniversary Games The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Di ...

in London in July, where she placed second behind

Lynsey Sharp Lynsey Sharp (born 11 July 1990) is a Scottish track and field athlete who competes in the 800 metres. She is the 2012 European Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres, 2012 European champion and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summ ...

. 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 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. Two months later, she competed at the Doha World Championships in Qatar, but was hampered by injury and did not progress beyond the heats.

2020–21

Bisset did not race internationally in 2020 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. However, this allowed her to continue aerobic training and fully recover from injury. 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. She also successfully defended her 800 m national title, officially securing her place on the Australian Olympic team. On her return to the European circuit in June, Bisset improved her national record at the

Janusz Kusociński Memorial The Janusz Kusociński Memorial (Polish: ''Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego'') is an annual track and field meeting at different venues in Poland, in recent times at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland. The meeting was first held in 1954 i ...

with a time of 1:58.09, which also broke the Oceanian record set by

Toni Hodgkinson Toni Louise Hodgkinson (born 12 December 1971) is a former New Zealand middle distance runner, originally from Tākaka. She currently holds the New Zealand woman's record in the 800 m. As a student at Golden Bay High School, Hodgkinson set man ...

in 1996. 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. She ended her season in September by competing in her first

final, running 1:59.66 for seventh at

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF G ...

. After the racing season, she began training with Linden Hall under the guidance of coach Ned Brophy-Williams.

2022

Bisset made her indoor debut at the

Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix The Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as Aviva Indoor Grand Prix, is an annual indoor track and field competition which is held in mid-February at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England. It is one of a handful of events to hold IAA ...

in February. She ran 1:59.46 for second behind

Keely Hodgkinson Keely Nicole Hodgkinson (born 3 March 2002) is an English athlete specialising in the 800 metres. At the age of 19, she won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking the British record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995. She is the 2022 W ...

, setting another national and Oceanian record in the process. She secured victories in the following two top-level World Indoor Tour meets, including the

Copernicus Cup Copernicus Cup is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February at the multi-purpose sports and entertainment Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland. The meeting is currently an IAAF World Indoor Tour Meeting. In 2019, the com ...

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

, where she defeated

Halimah Nakaayi Halimah Nakaayi (born 16 October 1994) is a Ugandan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current ...

. Later in March, Bisset placed fifth at the World Indoor Championships in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

with a time of 2:01.24. Two weeks later, back outdoors in Australia, she ran 1:59.83 to win her third consecutive national title. On the

circuit, she ran sub-two minutes in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, including a season's best time of 1:58.54 to finish third in Stockholm behind

Mary Moraa Mary Moraa (born 15 June 2000) is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a bronze medal in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and a gold at the 202 ...

and Hodgkinson. In the first round of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

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. The following day, she ran with 11 stitches in her thigh and a swollen knee, but did not advance to the final. Despite her injuries, she competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August, placing fifth in a time of 1:59.41.

2023

In February, Bisset ran three World Indoor Tour races, including another indoor sub-two minutes. Returning to Australia, she won the Brisbane Track Classic in 1:59.74. She then won her fourth national title in a meet record of 1:58.32, the fastest time by an Australian on home soil.

Statistics

International competitions

Oceanian and National titles

Oceania Area Championships in Athletics The Oceania Athletics Championships is an athletics event organized by the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) for the World Athletics (WA) (formerly the IAAF) member associations of the Oceania region. First held in 1990 in Suva, it was initial ...

: 2019 *

** 800 metres: 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 ** 4 × 400 m relay: 2019, 2021

Personal life

Bisset is studying a

postgraduate degree Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Her mother was born in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China. Part of her schooling was at Melrose High School in the

Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...

area of Canberra.

References

External links

*
Catriona Bisset
at

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

Catriona Bisset
at

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, Catriona 1994 births Living people Australian female middle-distance runners FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian Athletics Championships winners FISU World University Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian people Sportswomen from New South Wales