Sarah Billings has come perilously close to breaking the Australian 800 metres record as she enjoyed another breakthrough two-lap outing at the latest Diamond League meeting in China.
Following her third place in the 1000m in the previous week's meeting in Xiamen, the improving Melbourne athlete finished runner-up in the 800m at the Shanghai-Keqiao meet on Saturday, clocking a new lifetime best of 1 minute 57.83 seconds as she chased home Ethiopian winner Tsige Duguma.
The 27-year-old's time was just five-hundredths of a second outside Catriona Bisset's national mark of 1:57.78, set in London six years ago, as she powered through the pursuing pack to become just the second Australian woman to crack the 1:58 barrier.
