Australian Marschall in pole vault final

Australian Kurtis Marschall is out to make a statement in the men's pole vault final at the world athletics championships.

Kurtis Marschall

Kurtis Marschall is out to make a statement in the men's pole vault final. (AAP)

Australian Kurtis Marschall has every right to play the youth card in the men's pole vault at the world athletics championships.

At 20, the South Australian is the second-youngest man in the field for the final on Tuesday (early Wednesday AEST) behind Swedish teenager Armand Duplantis.

Marschall admits he wasn't ready to take on the world's best at last year's Rio Olympics.

Now he is - and he's placing no limits on what he can achieve.

Marschall scraped into the 12-man final in London in equal 11th spot with a best qualifying clearance of 5.60m.

He aims to go considerably higher in the final of an event in which Australia has a proud history at world championships level, highlighted by gold medals to Dmitri Markov in 2001 and Steve Hooker in 2009.

"I've had some decent jumps in the past month overseas - I've been getting over 5.70s pretty easily," Marschall said.

"I had an attempt at 5.77 in Monaco and had about 10 centimetres of hip height on it.

"So I'd like a 5.80, maybe squeak a 5.85."

Marschall is tracking well ahead of what Olympic and world champ Hooker was at the same age.

"I'm just going out there, jumping with the boys who jump all the same height as me, who do all the same training sessions, who perfect their event just as well as I do," he said.

"I'm just looking forward to going out there and tussling with them, no matter what I jump.

"Going into Rio last year I was way out of my depth.

"I just squeaked in, jumped the qualifier in Mannheim and I wasn't really up and about at Rio time, whereas all the other boys had been prepping for years for the Rio Olympic Games.

"I was just happy to be there.

"Whereas this time it's more 'I've been there, I've done that, I know all the boys, I've seen them all on the circuit'."

Glasgow Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Roberts will also be in action in the women's javelin final on Tuesday night.

Roberts, 25, qualified in seventh spot overall with 63.70m.

"I was so looking forward to these championships, coming in in really good shape and I've managed to execute almost that form," she said.

"It got me through to the final and now I'm just looking forward to it.

"Hopefully I can put it all out on the track and show the world exactly what I'm working for."


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Source: AAP



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