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.Australasian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
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.Nielsen, Erik (2014-06-13). Sport and the British World, 1900-1930: Amateurism and National Identity in Australasia and Beyond, pg. 41. Palgrave Macmillan. . Retrieved on 2015-07-29.Letters, Michael & Jobling, Ian (1996). Forgotten Links: Leonard Cuff and The Olympic Movement in Australasia, 1894-1905. Olympika, Volume V. Retrieved on 2015-07-29. An Australasian Championships in tennis for the colonies was established in 1905 and would later become the Australian Open.Inter-state Tennis Australasian Championship. The Age (1905-11-27). Retrieved on 2015-07-30.
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. This became the basis for the modern-day national federation, Athletics Australia, after New Zealand split in 1928.About Athletics Australia. Athletics Australia. Retrieved on 2015-07-30. 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.Australasia. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-30.
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. 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.Athletics Australasian Championships. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 10. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
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.
Editions Key
Ed.YearCityCountryNo. ofevents — 1890 Sydney Australia 11 1st 1893 Melbourne Australia 15 2nd 1896 Christchurch New Zealand 15 3rd 1897 Sydney Australia 15 4th 1899 Brisbane Australia 15 5th 1901 Auckland New Zealand 15 6th 1904 Melbourne Australia 15 7th 1905 Sydney Australia 15 8th 1908 Hobart Australia 15 9th 1909 Brisbane Australia 16 10th 1911 Wellington New Zealand 15 11th 1914 Melbourne Australia 15 12th 1920 Sydney Australia 15 13th 1922 Adelaide Australia 18 14th 1924 Hobart Australia 19 15th 1926 Brisbane Australia 19 16th 1927 Wellington New Zealand 20
Champions 100 yards 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: 220 yards 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: 440 yards 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: 880 yards 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Mile run 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Three miles 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: 120 yards hurdles 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: 440 yards hurdles 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: & High jump 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Pole vault 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: & 1911: 1914: & 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Long jump 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Triple jump 1927: Shot put 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Discus throw 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Hammer throw 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Javelin throw 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Decathlon 1924: 1926: 1927: One mile walk 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: Three mile walk 1890: 1893: 1896: 1897: 1899: 1901: 1904: 1905: 1908: 1909: 1911: 1914: 1920: 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927: One mile relay 1922: 1924: 1926: 1927:
References
Champions Ausraliasian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2021-01-22.