Three days of athletics action awaits in the Festival State as the Adelaide Invitational and Australian Athletics Half Marathon Race Walking Championships bring major credentials to South Australia, accompanied by the all-new Friday Night Lights showcase.
Few names will draw more attention across the weekend than that of Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas), who will carry the hopes of the locals into his showdown with Diamond League champion Jacory Patterson (USA) in the Golden North Men’s 200m, where he will also meet Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale) at the SA Athletics Stadium.
Setting personal bests 10.23-seconds and 44.81-seconds over 100m and 400m respectively already this season, Murphy is ready to rumble.
“Having a big meet like this in Adelaide is fantastic for the sport locally. It’s always great to race in front of a home crowd and hopefully we can put on a good show,” Murphy said.
“I’m building nicely. When you line up against a quality field you know you have to bring your best, and that’s exactly the kind of environment you want to be racing in.”
Adding to the sprinting action, Joshua Azzopardi (NSW, Rob Marks) will return to the fray in the Men’s 100m after setting a personal best of 10.09 (+1.9) at the Perth Track Classic, while 18-year-old Zara Hagan (QLD, Christopher Dale) remains the fastest woman in the world this year at 11.16 (+0.8).
Leading the way in the field will be Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny (QLD, Dale Stevenson) who continues to find new challengers throughout the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series, this time facing international rivals Claudio Romero (CHI) and Lawrence Okoye (GBR) in the Heath Conveyancing Men’s Discus Throw.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) shapes up as one of the main attractions in the Polytan Women’s 800m as a back-to-back winner and meet record holder at the Adelaide Invitational with the 2:00.81 she clocked in 2024, while a quartet of Para-athletics stars will do battle in the Men’s 1500m B race – Michael Roeger (SA, Philo Saunders, T46), Reece Langdon (VIC, Tim O’Shaughnessy, T38), Angus Hincksman (SA, Philo Saunders, T38) and William Short (VIC, Mickael Soussan, T12).
A pair of Paralympians in Telaya Blacksmith (NSW, Jacinta Doyle, T20) and Sarah Walsh (ACT, Matt Beckenham, T64) will add to that showcase in the Women’s Long Jump, which will also feature Australian record holder Brooke Buschkuehl (VIC, Russell Stratton) and World Under 20 champion Delta Amidzovski (NSW, Becky Amidzovksi) who set a personal best of 6.62m to win at the Hobart Track Classic.
Kick-starting the action as part of Friday Night Lights from 6:00pm ACDT will be Australia’s fastest men and women in the 4x100m relays, including Olympians Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) and Kristie Edwards (NSW, Andrew Murphy), with the action set to flow thick and fast into Saturday where names like Yual Reath (VIC, Mike Barber) and Jemma Pollard (NSW, Tim Eschebach) await in the Men’s High Jump and Beyond Bank Women’s 400m.
All roads then lead to Sunday for the inaugural Australian Athletics Half Marathon Race Walking Championships, with a roll call of the nation’s best in the discipline are gunning for crowns.
Declan Tingay (WA, Brent Vallance) has returned to strong form and looms as the man to beat after posting a time of 1:23:41 in China earlier this month, but Olympic bronze medallist Rhydian Cowley (VIC, Brent Vallance) will be poised to strike should the opportunity arise.
“I’m anticipating a big fight to take control of the pace in the last half of the race, and I reckon the podium will be determined by who has got the most guys over the final couple of kilometres,” Tingay said.
“I’m excited to see the outcome because I know that any combination of the men entered into this race on the podium will be world-class.”
Elizabeth McMillen (NSW, Jared Tallent), Rebecca Henderson (VIC, Simon Baker) and Olivia Sandery (SA, Jared Tallent) have dominated the domestic podium in recent years, entering Sunday’s race as three of the five fastest female Australian 20km race walkers in history.
The race walking will take place on War Memorial Drive from 8:00am ACDT on Sunday and will also feature world Under 20 record holder Isaac Beacroft (NSW, David Beacroft) in the Under 20 Men’s 10km Race Walk, having already booked his ticket to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The 2026 Adelaide Invitational will be hosted as part of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series, taking place at the SA Athletics Stadium from March 13-14.
Tickets to the Adelaide Invitational be purchased HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 13/3/2026
