National-level athletics returns to Tasmania this Saturday for the first time in 10 years with Olympic medallist Matthew Denny and sprint star Lachlan Kennedy amongst those ready to light up the Hobart Track Classic and Australian Athletics 3000m Championships.
For Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) who was ruled out of the 2025 World Athletics Championships due to injury after becoming just the second Australian man in history to shatter 10-seconds in the 100m, the wait has felt equally as long since his last competitive appearance in July.
The World Indoor silver medallist will once again step up to the 200m in Hobart with a 20.26-second personal best to take on training partner Calab Law (QLD, Andrew Iselin), having famously taken down Gout Gout as part of a star-studded field at the 2025 Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne.
“I’m extremely excited for the Hobart Track Classic, I’ve never been to the city before and also it will be my first time competing in almost nine months. I’m as fired up as ever,” Kennedy said.
“I’m looking forward to running more personal bests and getting better with each run I do, hopefully I can break a couple records along the way and win a Commonwealth Games gold medal.”
Sharing in that fire is global discus star Denny (QLD, Dale Stevenson) who jets to Tasmania with the second farthest throw in history to his name, ready to lift the crowd with his 74.78m national record and Olympic bronze medal.
The two-time Diamond League champion who became a dad in the off-season is ready to launch the night as one of the headline acts.
“I’m super excited, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Hobart and I have good memories from when I last competed there in 2015,” Denny said.
“I’m looking forward to the year as a whole. It’s going to be pretty flat out, my wife and son are going to come with me to the Commonwealth Games which will be exciting to share that with them.”
Australian titles will be in high demand over 3000m with strong fields for both women in men, as national record holder Georgia Griffith (VIC, Nic Bideau) prepares to defend her crown from Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) and Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram) who are stepping up in distance.
Griffith has made the distance her own with her 8:24.20 career-best and coasted away with the 2025 title, presenting a challenge that excites the 20-year-old Hollingsworth in the race that also features Nozomi Tanaka (JPN) and Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott).
“I’m very excited to jump in the mix of a high-quality field who are quite experienced at this distance and see how I go. It’s a National Championships and the field is deep,” Hollingsworth said.
“It’s a chance to test where I am at and my fitness level. I’ve loved training at a higher mileage recently and I’m just keen for the year ahead and to get overseas into some different races.”
Two-time national champion Callum Davies (QLD, Collis Birmingham), marathoner Brett Robinson (VIC, Nic Bideau) and Olympic steeplechaser Edward Trippas (VIC, Craig Mottram) are amongst the favourites for the men.
Adding to the middle-distance action, Peter Bol (WA, Justin Rinaldi) will make his second appearance of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series after igniting the Perth Track Classic over 800m, ready to double down on his 1:43.89 season opener against teammate Bob Abdelrahim (VIC, Justin Rinaldi) in the Derwent Estate Wines Men’s 800m.
Hammer throw is back on the menu for Australian athletics fans and Stephanie Ratcliffe (VIC, Dale Stevenson) looms as the main event in the Matt Horneman Women’s Hammer Throw, setting up a Trans-Tasman showdown with training partner Lauren Bruce (NZL) – Ratcliffe the national record holder at 73.63m.
More track action will be fast and furious as Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) opens her season over 100m, while Alanah Yukich (WA, Rose Monday) returns in the 400m hurdles and Peyton Craig (QLD, Craig Mottram) looks to stamp his presence on the 1500m.
A pair of World Under 20 medallists in Izobelle Louison-Roe (NSW, Karen Roe) and Delta Amidzovski (NSW, Becky Amidzovski) will continue their rise in the field, taking on the high jump and long jump respectively, with Louison-Roe now within one centimetre of Eleanor Patterson’s 1.96m Australian Under 20 record.
Local fans will have plenty to cheer for when being represented by sprinter Jacob Despard (TAS, Brett Robinson) and rising hammer thrower Arielle Cannell (TAS, John Eden), as well as Violet Owen (TAS, Susan Andrews) and Alex Hanigan (TAS, Steve Fabris) in the middle-distance ranks.
The 2026 Hobart Track Classic will be hosted on February 28 at Domain Athletic Centre. The Hobart Track Classic is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania.
Tickets can be purchased HERE.
The event timetable and entries can be found HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 26/2/2026
