27.05.2009

All-new WA Athletics Stadium unveiled in Perth

The all-new Western Australia Athletics Stadium was officially unveiled in Perth on Tuesday, the venue set to play host to the 88th Australian Athletics Championships and selection trials for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

On hand to celebrate the opening of the facility this week were Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker, sprinter Jody Henry and javelin specialist Kim Mickle.

The stadium will become the home training facility for some of the nation’s top athletes as they count down to the 12th IAAF world championships in Berlin this August and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October next year.

To be held from April 16-18, the 2010 national championships will mark the first time the event has travelled to Perth since the selection trials for the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

The world-class stadium at AK Reserve features grandstand seating for 2000 spectators and grass bank seating for a further 8000 fans.

Officially dubbed the Shirley Strickland Grandstand, the stadium seating honours one of Western Australia’s – and the nation’s – most prominent athletics icons.  

The $73.4 million stadium complex also features a Herb Elliot Drive and Wally Foreman Walk, and is linked to major events centre Challenge Stadium.

Revealed at a State Government function on Tuesday the $1.2 million nine-lane track boasts the same surface seen at the Beijing Olympics and allows for sprint events to be held on both the front and back straights with two 12-lane 110m sprint straights.

The facility boasts five jumps pits, four pole vault runways, four shot put circles, two hammer and discus cages and two high jump and javelin sites.

In addition to 19 rooms to be used for administration and events, the stadium will also house the Athletics Western Australia offices and a museum room of athletics memorabilia. 

Western Australia Athletics chief Wayne Loxley told local press he had no doubt the stadium would see a raft of records in years to come.

“The national championships will bring all of Australia’s best to WA and I have no doubt we will see records broken,” he said.

“With the wind and the lights our competition will be world-class and I think we will have the opportunity to attract major championships on a regular basis.”

The facility will become the new home of athletics out west, replacing the stadium at Perry Lakes built to host the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The facility adds to a now-bustling sports precinct at Claremont.

Unlike the Perry Lakes stadium, the new facility has been designed to allow all track and field events to take advantage of wind conditions.

In line with green living the stadium boasts low-energy lighting, solar panels, rainwater collection systems and drought-resistant grass to withstand the Perth climate.

Athletics Western Australia will host a private function to launch the facility this Thursday night, the event to tie in with Western Australia’s Athlete of the Year Awards for 2009.