China Airlines Half Marathon Elite Women

Winner of the 2024 Gold Coast Half Marathon and three-time Gold Coast 10km winner Leanne Pompeani (1:09:01) is aiming for a back-to-back win this year. Following a 2:24:53 finish and posting the fastest debut marathon by an Australian woman at the 2025 Nagoya Marathon, Pompeani is in fine form to lead out a talented pack in the 2025 China Airlines Half Marathon.

Seasoned trophy winner in both the marathon and half-marathon on the Gold Coast, Olympian Jess Stenson (1:09:04) will join Pompeani on the start line amidst a serious group of international challengers.

Japan’s Yuri Mitsune and Wakana Itsuki (both 1:10:23 PBs) and Aiwa Sakaguchi and Madoka Nakano (both 1:11:18 PBs) are all in contention for a podium finish and will challenge the leading Australians.

Rounding out a quality women’s elite field in the 21.0975km event are Australian’s Tara Palm (1:10:55), winner of the 2024 Southern Cross University 10km run on the Gold Coast, Caitlin Adams (1:11:14), Sarah Klein (1:11:38), Abigail Nordberg (1:11:53) and 2025 Tokyo World Championship marathon representative Vanessa Wilson (1:12:59).

China’s Sufang Pan (1:13:05) will be racing for a new PB, joining the top seeds where the glory of finishing first can only be matched by toppling the women’s race record (and Australian all-comers record) of 1:06:39 set by the USA’s Keira D’Amato in 2023.

The China Airlines Half Marathon will start at 6:15am Saturday 5 July and is the first race of the record-breaking 2025 ASICS Gold Coast Marathon weekend.