Australia's best two medal hopes at the upcoming athletics world championships have had big paydays, finishing second at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Canberra javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber finished second in her event while high jumper Brandon Starc continued a hot recent run of form to claim second spot in the men's high jump.
The pair both pocketed $US20,000 ($A30,000) for their efforts.
Barber has made giant strides this year, several times smashing her personal best.
The only person who has thrown further than the Australian in 2019 is China's Lyu Huihui, who won the Diamond League title on Thursday night (Friday AEST) with 66.88m.
Barber's best throw was 64.74m.
Starc went over at the first attempt at his first five heights and equalled his best 2019 clearance of 2.30m to push Tihomir Ivanov from Bulgaria into third spot on countback.
Andriy Protsenko from Ukraine won with a best leap of 2.32m.
The men's high jump shapes as one of the most open events at the world championships in Doha beginning on September 28, with 19 athletes - including Australians Starc and Joel Baden - within 3cm of each other atop the 2019 rankings.
Starc won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and also finished first in last year's Diamond League final.
Fellow Australian Linden Hall ran a season's best time of four minutes 04.22 seconds to finish 10th in the women's 1500m while Stewart McSweyn was 13th in the men's 5000m.
AAP