Brandon STARC

Two years later, Brandon became the first Australian to make the World Championship final in the men’s high jump since 1997.

On his Olympic debut in 2016, Starc made the final with a season-best of 2.29m to finish 15th.

Following an injury-laden 2017, Brandon won the 2018 Commonwealth Games trials with a 2.28m jump - his best since the Rio Olympics. The Australian high jumper backed it up with a personal best 2.32m jump to secure the title at Gold Coast 2018.

The year proved to be a successful one for Brandon, who set two new personal bests in the same season. His 2.36m jump equalled the Australian record and a 21-year high by an Australian athlete.

Brandon also won the 2018 Diamond League title in Brussels, beating Germany’s Mateusz Przybylko, the then-European champion and highly-rated Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy to the crown.

The Australian athlete secured his fourth and latest national title in April 2021. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Brandon leapt 2.35m in the final and missed out on a podium finish.

While he missed out on the 2022 World Championships due to injury, Brandon’s Commonwealth Games title defence came short as he settled for a silver medal.

Brandon, meanwhile, missed out on his fifth Australian title in 2023, finishing second behind Rio 2016 Olympian Joel Baden. Later, he qualified for his seventh consecutive World Championships final at Budapest 2023 to finish joint-eighth.

Brandon, now 30, will leap in the men’s high jump competition at Paris 2024, aiming for his first medal at the Olympic Summer Games.