Australia's walking and field athlete performance since 2000

When one looks closely at table 2, however, declining numbers are not that obvious for most events since 2000.

The notable exceptions that highlight a numerical decline are the pole vault and hammer events for females, both events that first entered global athletic competitions in 1999.

Going into 2014, a Commonwealth Games year, Australia can expect to do well in walking and field events given the Australian athletes that made the top 10 world list in 2013: Jared Tallant 50km walk; Ben Harradine, Julian Wruck and Dani Samuels discus; and Kimberley Mickle and Kathryn Mitchell javelin.

There are other field athletes worth following, including Eleanor Patterson who ranked equal 11th in the world in 2013 with a 1.96m high jump,, a world record for an under 18 athlete!