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The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athletes wishing to compete at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games or World Championships. The event is conducted by Athletics Australia.

The 2023 Australian Championships were the 100th edition of the event, which dates back to 1890 for men, and 1931 for women. These championships has been held in all states of Australia, with the Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre being the venue that has held the most editions of the event (12).

Initially, men’s and women’s events were held separately, in different places, until the Olympic selections of 1972 and 1976, and as a single event since 1978.

These championships are considered open: athletes from other countries such as New Zealand and the USA have competed in and won events.

History

The championships were first held on 31 May 1890 under the name Inter Colonial Meet at Moore Park in Sydney.

In 1893, teams from the Australasian colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand competed in the first formalised Australasian Athletics Championships meeting.

A New Zealand team continued to compete in this event until the 1927/28 event. At the next championships in 1929/30, women's events were included for the first time.

In 1933, the women began conducting their own championships, with a wider range of events. Except for occasional combined championships in 1936, 1972 and 1976, the separation of men's and women's championships continued until the 1977/78 event.

Championship events

The full range of Olympic events is not usually conducted at the national championships. For example, during the 2007/08 season the following championship events were held separately:

• Men's and Women's 10,000 metres – Zatopek Classic – 13 December 2007
• Men's 50 kilometres race walk – Melbourne – 16 December 2007
• Women's 5000 metres – Sydney Grand Prix – 16 February 2008
• Men's 5000 metres – IAAF World Athletics Tour, Melbourne meet – 21 February 2008
• Men's and Women's 20 kilometres race walk – Melbourne – 23 February 2008

Most successful athletes

The most successful athletes at the Championships have been throwers Gael Martin and Warwick Selvey who won 20 and 19 championships events, respectively.

List of championships

Notes

1. ^ - held in New Zealand as part of the Australasian Athletics Championships
2. ^ - women's championship only
3. ^ - men's championship only
4. The main championships were not held but eight events were completed prior to the cancellation.

Championships records

Men

Women

References

1. Athletics Australia - Selection Criteria Archived 26 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
2. Athletics Australia - 86th National Championships Archived 18 June 2007 at archive.today
3. ^ Athletics Australia National Championships results
4. Zatopek Classic Archived 20 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
5. Australian 50k Road Walk Championships Archived 12 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
6. Sydney Grand Prix
7. IAAF World Athletics Tour – Melbourne
8. Australian 20k Road Walk Championships Archived 1 August 2008 at archive.today
9. Athletics Australia - Australian Championships Superlatives
10. Men's results 2019–20
11. Women's results 2019–20
12. Men's results 2020–21
13. Women's results 2020–21
14. "Results". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023.
15. John Salvado (13 April 2024). "Denny smashes his own discus national record". yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
16. "Hull doubles at Australian Championships, Van Niekerk and Simbine shine at South African Championships". World Athletics. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
17. Steve Smythe (19 April 2021). "Junior records for Athing Mu and Christine Mboma – weekly round-up". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 28 April 2021.

External links

• Australien Championships Meet Records 7 April 2024 updated

• Australian Athletics Championships
• National championships in Australia
• Athletics competitions in Australia
• National athletics competitions
• Recurring events established in 1890
• 1890 establishments in Australia