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.Athletics Australia - Selection Criteria The event is conducted by Australian Athletics.Athletics Australia - 86th National Championships
The 2023 Australian Championships were the 100th edition of the event, which dates back to 1890 for men, and 1931 for women. The championships have 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.
The 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, Tasmania, Queensland and New Zealand competed in the first formalised Australasian Athletics Championships meeting.Athletics Australia National Championships results
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 2007Zatopek Classic Men's 50 kilometres race walk Melbourne 16 December 2007Australian 50k Road Walk Championships Women's 5000 metres Sydney Grand Prix 16 February 2008Sydney Grand Prix Men's 5000 metres IAAF World Athletics Tour, Melbourne meet 21 February 2008IAAF World Athletics Tour Melbourne Men's and Women's 20 kilometres race walk Melbourne 23 February 2008Australian 20k Road Walk Championships
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.Athletics Australia - Australian Championships Superlatives
List of championships Year Venue Place 1890–91 Moore Park Sydney 1893–94 Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne 1895–96 Lancaster Park Christchurch 1897–98 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney 1899–00 Bowen Park Brisbane 1901–02 Auckland Domain Auckland 1903–04 Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne 1905–06 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney 1907–08 TCA Ground Hobart 1909–10 Bowen Park Brisbane 1911–12 Basin Reserve Wellington 1913–14 Amateur Sports Ground Melbourne 1919–20 Sydney Sports Ground Sydney 1921–22 Adelaide Oval Adelaide 1923–24 North Hobart Oval Hobart 1925–26 Bowen Park Brisbane 1927–28 Basin Reserve Wellington 1929–30 Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne 1931–32 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney 1932–33 Amateur Sports Ground Melbourne 1933–34 Adelaide Oval Adelaide 1934–35 Lang Park Brisbane 1935–36 North Hobart Oval Hobart Rushcutters Bay Oval Sydney 1937–38 Bowen Park Brisbane Royal Park Melbourne 1939–40 Leederville Oval Perth 1946–47 Leederville Oval Perth 1947–48 St. Kilda Cricket Ground Melbourne University Oval Sydney 1948–49 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney 1949–50 Adelaide Oval Adelaide Norwood Oval Adelaide 1950–51 North Hobart Oval Hobart 1951–52 Exhibition Grounds Brisbane Olympic Park Melbourne 1952–53 Leederville Oval Perth 1953–54 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Leederville Oval Perth 1954–55 Olympic Sports AdelaideKensington Oval Adelaide 1955–56 Olympic Park Melbourne Brisbane Cricket Ground Brisbane 1956–57 Olympic Park Melbourne 1957–58 Exhibition Grounds Brisbane Sydney Sports Ground Sydney 1958–59 North Hobart Oval Hobart 1959–60 Leederville Oval Perth North Hobart Oval Hobart 1960–61 Lang Park Brisbane 1961–62 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney West Parkland Field Adelaide 1962–63 Thebarton Oval Adelaide Lang Park Brisbane 1963–64 Olympic Park Melbourne Royal Park Melbourne 1964–65 North Hobart Oval Hobart Perry Lakes Stadium Perth 1965–66 Perry Lakes Stadium Perth Sydney Sports Ground Sydney 1966–67 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide North Hobart Oval Hobart 1967–68 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney Olympic Sports Field Adelaide 1968–69 Olympic Park Melbourne Lang Park Brisbane 1969–70 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide Royal Park Melbourne 1970–71 Lang Park Brisbane Sydney Sports Ground Sydney 1971–72 Perry Lakes Stadium Perth 1972–73 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney North Hobart Oval Hobart 1973–74 Olympic Park Melbourne Olympic Sports Field Adelaide 1974–75 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide Lang Park Brisbane 1975–76 Olympic Park Melbourne 1976–77 The Domain Sydney Sydney Sports Ground Sydney 1977–78 QE II Stadium Brisbane 1978–79 Perry Lakes Stadium Perth 1979–80 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1980–81 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide 1981–82 QE II Stadium Brisbane 1982–83 Olympic Park Melbourne 1983–84 Olympic Park Melbourne 1984–85 Bruce Stadium Canberra 1985–86 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide 1986–87 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1987–88 Perry Lakes Stadium Perth 1988–89 QE II Stadium Brisbane 1989–90 Olympic Park Melbourne 1990–91 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1991–92 Olympic Sports Field Adelaide 1992–93 QE II Stadium Brisbane 1993–94 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1994–95 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1995–96 ES Marks Athletics Field Sydney 1996–97 Olympic Park Melbourne 1997–98 Olympic Park Melbourne 1998–99 Olympic Park Melbourne 1999–00 Stadium Australia Sydney 2000–01 QE II Stadium Brisbane 2001–02 QE IIANZ Stadium Brisbane 2002–03 QE IIANZ Stadium Brisbane 2003–04 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2004–05 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2005–06 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2006–07 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Brisbane 2007–08 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Brisbane 2008–09 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Brisbane 2009–10 Western Australian Athletics Stadium Perth 2010–11 Olympic Park Melbourne 2011–12 Lakeside Stadium Melbourne 2012–13 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2013–14 Albert Park Melbourne 2014–15 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Brisbane 2015–16 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2016–17 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2017–18 Carrara Stadium Gold Coast 2018–19 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2019–20 Main championships not held 2020–21 Sydney Olympic Park SydneyMen's results 2020–21Women's results 2020–21 2021–22 Sydney Olympic Park Sydney 2022–23 Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Brisbane 2023–24 SA Athletics Stadium Adelaide 2024–25 Western Australian Athletics Stadium Perth2025–26Sydney Olympic Park Athletic CentreSydney
Notes
Championships records Men EventRecordAthlete/TeamDateMeetPlace100 m9.96 Lachlan Kennedy10 April 20262025–26 ChampionshipsSydney9.96 Lachlan Kennedy11 April 20262025–26 ChampionshipsSydney200 m19.67 Gout Gout12 April 20262025–26 ChampionshipsSydney800 m1:43.79 Peter Bol13 April 20252024–25 ChampionshipsPerthDiscus throw69.35 m Matthew Denny13 April 20242023–24 ChampionshipsAdelaide
Women EventRecordAthlete/TeamDateMeetPlace800 m1:58.32Catriona Bisset30 March 20232022–23 ChampionshipsBrisbane1500 m4:04.19Jessica Hull1 April 20232022–23 ChampionshipsBrisbane5000 m15:05.87Jessica Hull2 April 20232022–23 ChampionshipsBrisbaneHigh jump2.00 m Nicola McDermott18 April 20212020–21 ChampionshipsSydneyPole vault4.75 mEliza McCartney1 April 20232022–23 ChampionshipsBrisbane
References
External links Australien Championships Meet Records 7 April 2024 updated