The Australasian Athletics Championships was an athletics competition between male athletes principally from Australia and New Zealand that was held between 1893 and 1927. They were the precursor to the national Australian Athletics Championships, which replaced the competition from 1930 onwards.[1]
The competition emerged from an inter-colonial athletics event in 1890 between New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand before becoming a formalised event. This marked a progression towards organised sports competition among the emerging colonial regions in the British Empire and occurred at the same time as the Sheffield Shield cricket developed into a formal regional tournament.[2][3] An Australasian Championships in tennis for the colonies was established in 1905 and would later become the Australian Open.[4]
During the same period, athletics organisers of the region began to cooperate more and the Amateur Athletic Union of Australasia (AAUA) was established in 1897.[3] This became the basis for the modern-day national federation, Athletics Australia, after New Zealand split in 1928.[5] Sports cooperation between Australia and New Zealand also resulted in a combined national team being sent as Australasia at the Olympics in 1908 and 1912.[6]
The main base of the athletics programme consisted of track and field events measured in imperial units. The first edition in 1893 featured ten track events and five field events for men. The track events were three sprints, two middle-distance races, a 3-mile long-distance race, two hurdling events, and two track walking events. On the field, there were high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot put and hammer throw. The programme remained in this format until 1922, when three new events were added (javelin throw, discus throw, and mile medley relay). A decathlon was held for three editions from 1924 onwards and a men's triple jump was contested in 1927 only.[1] A marathon event was included on the programme in 1909 and the prominence of the event marked the growing importance of the newly developed distance in the region.[7]
Among the winners during the competition's lifespan were three-time Olympic sprint athlete Stan Rowley, 1908 Olympic race walk medalist Harry Kerr, sprinter Nigel Barker and hurdler George William Smith.[1]
^ abcAustralasian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
^Nielsen, Erik (2014-06-13). Sport and the British World, 1900-1930: Amateurism and National Identity in Australasia and Beyond, pg. 41. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137398512. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
^ abLetters, Michael & Jobling, Ian (1996). Forgotten Links: Leonard Cuff and The Olympic Movement in Australasia, 1894-1905. Olympika, Volume V. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
^Inter-state Tennis Australasian Championship. The Age (1905-11-27). Retrieved on 2015-07-30.
^About Athletics Australia. Athletics Australia. Retrieved on 2015-07-30.
^Australasia. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-30.
^Athletics Australasian Championships. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 10. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
and 25 Related for: Australasian Athletics Championships information
The AustralasianAthleticsChampionships was an athletics competition between male athletes principally from Australia and New Zealand that was held between...
The Australian AthleticsChampionships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in...
also sent teams for the AustralasianAthleticsChampionships during its lifetime from 1890 to 1927. Separate annual championship events are held for the...
11 November 1893, an intercolonial meet described as the AustralasianAthleticsChampionships was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, between athletes...
junior championships. World Athletics (2007-11-30). Retrieved 2021-01-25. International AthleticsChampionships, Games and Cups. GBR Athletics. Retrieved...
team to compete at the AustralasianAthleticsChampionships. A year later, when the Melbourne University Athletic Club Championships were run in May 1915...
Amateur Athletics Union of Australia became the peak-body for athletics in Australia. The AustralasianChampionships now became Australian Championships, with...
Regattas, the APS Combined Swimming & Diving Championships and the APS Combined AthleticsChampionships. In March 2005, the APS member schools formed...
12 November 2015. "National Championships – 24–25 March 1972, Perry Lakes Stadium, Perth". Australasian Amateur Athletics: 2–3. April 1972. Georgakis...
Australian Athletics Stadium) 2016 World Masters AthleticsChampionships is the 22nd in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took...
The 1887 Scottish AthleticsChampionships were the fifth national athleticschampionships to be held in Scotland. They were held under the auspices of...
au/newspaper/article/196720580 Secondary Schools' Championship Meeting (11 November 1911). "The Australasian", p.29. Retrieved 7 February 2021 from https://trove...
private practice in the 1980s. He was one of the inaugural Fellows of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians In 1997, Larkins became the...
Australian Middleweight Championship was a national Australian professional wrestling championship and was the first Middleweight Championship in Australia. Australia...
Lomb Championships". Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2007. Westside Tennis Club "Memphis Tennis Championships". Memphis...
2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group; the South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves...
Northern Mystics of the ANZ Championship. Clubs based at the adjacent Douglas Track and Field include Waitakere City Athletics Club, Waitakere Rugby Club...
She continued to set records throughout her junior years, winning the Australasian Pro Junior Series in 2007 and 2008. At 15, Fitzgibbons represented Australia...
The Australian Tag Team Wrestling Championship was one of the first Tag team professional wrestling championship in Australia. Australia portal Professional...
The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations...
Member Countries of the Australasian Area" was held on August 21, 1969, resulting in the foundation of the Oceania Athletics Association. A total of 34...
won the decathlon and came second in the pole vault at the 1926 Australasianchampionships. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL...
Global Information