The stage is set for a action-packed finale to the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series, as the 2025 Australian Athletics Championships continue in Perth with the Open and Under 20 events this Thursday through to Sunday.
As the final stop on what has been a landmark season for Australian athletics, the Championships represent more than national glory. They are a celebration of a sport riding a wave of momentum from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, and a sensational domestic season that included the first sell-out one-day meeting since 2001 with the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne last Saturday night.
Held at WA Athletics Stadium, Australia’s Open and Under 20 athletes will follow the lead of their junior counterparts who have set the stage in Perth, with stacked fields and white-hot match ups across all four days.
The resurgence of Australian sprinting will take centre stage, as an exciting group of young men hit maximum velocity in the race to join Patrick Johnson as the only Australian man to shatter the 10-second barrier in wind-legal conditions.
World Indoor 60m silver medallist Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin), Olympic semi-finalist Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy), and Paris Olympians Sebastian Sultana (NSW, Greg Smith) and Joshua Azzopardi (NSW, Rob Marks) will all line up in the 100m, with bragging rights and history on the line as they take their marks on one of the fastest track in the country.
The Men’s 200m is also set to sizzle after a showdown at the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne, which saw Kennedy upset teen phenom and Australian record holder at 20.04, Gout Gout (QLD, Diane Sheppard) with the rematch looming large in the west.
“I’m aiming for a sub-10 time for sure. In one of the rounds, I’ll do it and then I want to try and break the Australian record in the 100m and I really want to go for 19-seconds in the 200m. I think that’s more than possible, it’ll just be how my body can handle the rounds,” Kennedy said.
“I’m confident I can win the double. I mean, Gout is obviously incredible. He’s the Austalian record at 17-years-old for a reason, it’s nuts. But that’s not going to stop me running with confidence now.
“It’ll be five races across three days so that’s obviously different to running one race at a Track Classic but If I’m good to go and I feel good, I will try my best to double up and I’m confident I can win both events.”
With the Open 200m as his main event, Gout will also continue his quest in the 100m, lining up with his Under-20 counterparts, while fellow teenagers Cameron Myers (ACT, Dick Telford) and Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram) continue to show off the talent of the next generation in the middle distance events.
In the field, all eyes will be skyward as global medallist Kurtis Marschall (WA, Paul Burgess) returns home from the international indoor season, eyeing the six-metre mark on his home track in the Men’s Pole Vault, while the Women’s High Jump promises to be a spectacle headlined by Olympic medallists Nicola Olyslagers (NSW, Matt Horsnell) and Eleanor Patterson (VIC, Fuzz Caan & Marco Fasinotti) – both medallists at last month’s World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Liam Adcock (NSW) will also look to light up the runway in the Men’s Long Jump, returning to the same venue where he soared to 8.33m at the Perth Track Classic – a performance that saw him leap onto the world stage with bronze at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, while Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) will lead an all-star cast in the 1500m, with Australia’s finest middle distance stars including Australian 3000m champion Georgia Griffith (VIC, Nic Bideau) ready to stake her claim.
While this year’s Championships do not serve as an official trial for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, they are a critical opportunity for athletes to post qualifying marks and make a compelling case to selectors, with depth rapidly growing across a number of disciplines.
The para athletics program will once again be a must-watch, with multiple World and Paralympic champions fine-tuning preparations ahead of the World Para Athletics Championships. Perth’s own Rhiannon Clarke (WA, T38, Danny Kevan) will race against rising star Mali Lovell (NSW, T36, Katie Edwards & Melinda Gainsford-Taylor) in the 100m and 200m, while James Turner (ACT, T36, Iryna Dvoskina) who unofficially broke the Men’s 100m T36 world record earlier this season, will make to look it official in Perth.
The middle-distance magic continues in the para ranks as well, with Angus Hincksman (SA, Philo Saunders & Simon Moran) and Reece Langdon (VIC, Tim O’Shaughnessy)going head-to-head in the Men’s 1500m Ambulant as both close in on T38 world record, while Michael Roeger (ACT, T46, Philo Saunders) and fellow Paralympic medallists Vanessa Low (ACT, T61, Scott Reardon), Dayna Crees (VIC, F34, Gordon Talbot), Michal Burian (VIC, F64,Nick Baltas) and Rheed McCracken (NSW, T34, Louise Sauvage) round out a powerful program, each of them vying to tick of the selection criteria at this meet ahead of the World Para Athletics Championships.
Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti said she was thrilled to welcome the Championships to Perth:
“It’s fantastic to see Australia’s next big athletes push themselves to the limits of their abilities in this crucial stop on the journey to pinnacle events.
“The WA Athletics Stadium was designed to give athletes the best chance for outstanding athletic results and has played host to many high quality events and top athletes, and we are proud to see it utilised this week for the Australian Athletics Championships.
Tourism Minister Reece Whitby echoed Saffioti’s comments stating:
“The Cook Government is extremely proud to be supporting Australia’s largest annual athletics event, and we welcome the nation’s top athletes to Perth to compete, alongside thousands of visiting spectators and supporters.
“The high-profile nature of this year’s Australian Athletics Championships has put the eyes of the nation on Perth, as we wait with bated breath to see whether new national or world records will be set.”
The 2025 Australian Athletics Championships is delivered by Australian Athletics, with the support of VenuesWest and Athletics West, and eight hours of action will be broadcast live and free on Seven’s digital platform, 7plus.
