Melbourne, November 30 2020 - The competition calendar for the 2021 Australian Summer of Athletics has today been confirmed by Athletics Australia.
Beginning in Melbourne on Australia Day (January 26), with the famous Zatopek: 10, the Australian Summer of Athletics will then travel to the nation’s capital to kick off the State and Territory Championships, before culminating in the nine-day festival that is the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships on April 12 – 21.
With a total of 20 events taking place between that time, athletes of all levels will have multiple opportunities to compete as they aim to qualify for the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships, while Australia’s elite athletes also aim to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Although not an Olympic distance, the 1000m is an event that has drawn the attention of some of the greatest athletes in middle-distance history, being recognised for record purposes since 1913.
One such record was written by Canberran Hayden Todd, who continued his spectacular start to the season by eclipsing both the Australian and World Best marks for the U16 1000m at the Athletics in the ACT Summer Series #2 in the ACT on October 24.
Athletics Australia is pleased to announce the expansion of its High-Performance department, with the addition of three new positions to its structure.
Previously Head of High-Performance Systems, Andrew Faichney will move into the role of General Manager - High Performance, while Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson will re-join the Athletics Australia family as Technical Athlete Consultant. Leisel Jones will bring her passion for athlete wellbeing to the role of Athlete Wellbeing & Engagement Coordinator.
The 2019 Doha World 100 metres champion Christian Coleman will miss next year's Tokyo Olympics after being banned for two years for breaching whereabouts rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday.
The judges said there was no suggestion Coleman ever took a banned substance. His ban is directly related to him not following the testing rules.
After a short but tiring season, athlete Sifan Hassan has decided not to participate in World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is Gdynia, Poland.
Sifan Hassan (Ned) has set a new European record on the 10.000m at the FBK After Summer Competition in Hengelo, the Netherlands. Hassan crossed the line in 29:36:67 after 25 laps in rainy conditions to beat the previous record of Paula Ratcliffe which stood at 30:01:09 since 2002.
Letesenbet Gidey and Joshua Cheptegei smashed the world records for men’s 10,000 and women’s 5000, respectively, on a warm, still night in Valencia.
Joshua Cheptegei toasted yet another landmark moment in his glittering 2020 season by smashing Kenenisa Bekele’s world 10,000m record by more than six-and-a-half seconds with a dazzling display at the NN Valencia World Record Day.
The one-off event organised by the NN Running Team, Global Sports Communication and SD Correcaminos has been organised with the primary goal of Joshua Cheptegei making a serious bid on Kenenisa Bekele’s world 10,000m record of 26:17.53.
It took 24 months, not 18, for McSweyn to find his groove, but in this Covid-19 impacted year, McSweyn has certainly made the most of it. In a shortened European season. McSweyn has claimed the Australian 3000m record, on September 17 in Rome, and now the men's 1500m record clocking 3:30.51 in Doha.
