Nationals coming to Adelaide - What it means to Athletics in SA
Published Tue 01 Mar 2022
Adelaide is set to host the 2022 Australian All Schools Championships and the 2024 Australian Track and Field Championships.
Athletics Australia last month announced that these two major events would be held at the SA Athletics Stadium in Mile End, which Athletics SA President Jane Russo said was an exciting "milestone for the sport of athletics in our State".
It will be the first time Adelaide has hosted the Australian Track and Field Championships since the 1991/1992 season, and will also be the first held at the Mile End SA Athletics Stadium, which was opened in January 1998.
Adelaide's previous Australian Track and Field Championships (March 1992) was held at the Olympic Sports Field (now the Kensington Oval) in Kensington Park, with the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre hosting five of the last six Championships (including the 2021/22 Championships, which will commence on March 26).
Being an Olympic year, the 2024 Australian Track and Field Championships holds significant value for Australia's best athletes, who will be striving for Paris Olympic Games qualification.
Athletics SA President Jane Russo, left, Saints Athletics Club thrower Darcy Miller and Western Athletics Club runner Iluka-Rose Taylor.
Russo said the Athletics SA Board and Management had been working to return the National Track and Field Championships to Adelaide over the past four years.
"We believed it was time to return this event to SA and the fact that we have the opportunity to bring Australia’s best athletes to Adelaide is very exciting," she said.
"It is great to bring interstate athletes, coaches and supporters here, but it’s also such an amazing opportunity to show South Australians what athletics is like at the top level.
"The SA Athletics Stadium is the perfect location for this event because it is situated so close to the CBD and also the Airport, while it will also provide our local athletes that extra incentive to compete on the National stage… in their own city.
"With the Stadium's track and facilities soon to be upgraded, these two National events will be hosted on a new track, so we will have the opportunity to showcase that on the National stage, and it also shows that we have the capacity to host these big events here in SA.
"We want it to be a great event – we want good times, we want PBs, we want State, National and World Records."
Adelaide last hosted the Australian All Schools Championships in 2017.
Each State Athletics body hosts a State All Schools Championships, with the top three place-winners from each event earning the right to head to the Australian All Schools Championships.
“All Schools is an exciting prospect because for a lot of these athletes it's their first opportunity to compete Nationally and it's quite a unique experience for them – to deal with pressure and crowds, but also to have fun competing against other school students from around Australia," Russo said.
Athletics SA Emerging Athlete Program Shot Put and Discus thrower Darcy Miller was excited by the prospect of competing at a home Australian Track and Field Championships.
"It is great news and an exciting time to be a South Australian athlete," he said.
"I will be in the Open Men's age group by then and I am looking forward to facing the best throwers in Australia on my home ground, it will be good for all our SA athletes.
"We SA athletes are often the ones doing the travelling so with everyone coming here instead, that is a really good situation for us competitively.
"I competed in the Adelaide Invitational recently (February 12), which was an incredible experience, and I think that is a teaser for what's to come.
"The event was run really well and the crowd was awesome, and with the track upgrades beginning soon, it will be really good to host Nationals here on the home ground."
Western Athletics Club runner and Immanuel College Year 7 student Iluka-Rose Taylor competed in her first State All Schools Championships in October last year, winning the Girls U14 100m, 200m and 400m titles.
She will be hoping to compete in her first National All Schools competition later this year on her home track.
"I am really excited that this year's National All Schools will be hosted in SA, it is a really good opportunity for us," Taylor said.
"I haven't been to a National competition yet as they keep getting cancelled as a result of Covid, so it is great that we can return the National All Schools to the calendar in my home town.
"I am counting down the days to be able to compete, and run in front of a home crowd against the best school-aged athletes in the country."
Russo believed SA athletics was in a good space, both on and off the track.
"Athletics in SA is really exciting at the moment, particularly in the youth space, the young people that are coming through and the track and field records they are breaking is astounding," she said.
"We hosted the Adelaide Invitational last month and it was exhilarating to see young people screaming with excitement at seeing their idols such as Rohan Browning and Peter Bol compete in their home town.
“I know that some of the athletes were in awe of the crowd and the atmosphere, which shows that this stadium is perfect to hold these big-scale events.
“We love hosting those big-scale events here and we will not take these upcoming opportunities for granted - we will put everything into organising it to make it the best event for people to participate in and watch.”
If you are interested in getting involved with athletics, contact admin@athleticssa.com.au, or visit the Athletics SA Clubs Hub or Membership Page.
