The revival of Australia's high jump stocks gathered serious momentum yesterday as Brandon Starc joined teenager Eleanor Patterson in the world championship finals in Beijing.
Australia had not had a global high jump finalist this century before Patterson, 19, broke through on Thursday to become the youngest Australian world championships finalist in history.
And Starc's performance creates a unique double as this is the first time Australia has had a man and a woman in the high jump final at the same world titles. 
Starc, 21, cleared a personal best of 2.31m in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium yesterday to progress automatically to tomorrow's final in fifth place.
"I'm honoured to be part of a world high jump final," the -Sydney jumper said. "To know half of these guys have jumped 2.40 - a couple of years ago I probably thought of myself as not one of those guys, not really world-class, but after today I know I can put myself in the mix and I'm just -really excited to do it." The last Australian in the men's final at the world titles was national record-holder and Olympic medallist Tim Forsyth, who won the bronze medal in 1997.
It is a considerable achievement for Starc, a 2010 Youth Olympics silver medallist who has now propelled himself into the top echelon of one of the strongest events in track and field in this era.
The younger brother of Australian fast bowler Mitchell, he showed excellent tenacity to fight his way through the qualifying round yesterday.
He needed three attempts to clear both 2.26m and 2.29m but then nailed his first attempt at 2.31m to soar into the final alongside the reigning world champion Bohdan Bondarenko and this year's world leader Mutaz Barshim of Qatar.
Starc was one of only five men who progressed with a first-time clearance at 2.31m.
He said his previous experience at the 2013 world titles and last year's Commonwealth Games had helped him to produce his best performance under pressure.
"I think I'm a little bit more mature and I know what it takes to jump well," he said. "I think I'm more aware of what I need to do." Teenage debutant Joel Baden also performed strongly, clearing 2.26m and narrowly missing at his personal best height of 2.29m, which may have been enough to put him through to the final.
With Starc the oldest of the three Australian high jumpers in Beijing, the future of the event seems assured. It was one of Australia's strongest events in the 1990s but fell away after the Sydney Olympics.
"To have two Australians in the finals is really good for high jump in Australia," Starc said.
"I think some younger kids will start wanting to do it and that's what we want. "Joel being out there, jumped 2.26, which is probably one of his top five jumps and he's probably where I was at two years ago. So he's an upcoming athlete and I'm really looking forward to the next six years to the Olympics in 2020 (when they should be at their peak)." Patterson will contest her first world championships final tonight with no fear despite her tender age.
Asked if she was intimidated by the class of athletes she will be facing, her answer was short and swift.
"No," she said firmly, with a hint of the steel that lies beneath the shy exterior of the country girl from Leongatha in Victoria. "They are just people, just like me." "My coach (David Green) and I have worked so hard and that's all I can do. As much as it is a competition, I'm just focused on relaxing and doing what I love to do."Patterson is ranked equal eighth in the world this year with a best clearance of 1.96m, but two of those ranked above her failed to qualify for the final. Russian Olympic champion Anna Chicherova is the world leader at 2.03m with fellow Russian Mariya Kuchina and Spain's Ruth Beitia the only others over 2m.