Olympic pole vault champion Nina Kennedy is poised for a romantic return to competition at Saturday’s Perth Track Classic, where she will be joined by sprint king Rohan Browning and 800m superstar Peter Bol as the who’s who of Australian athletics head west.
After 518 days, hometown hero Kennedy (WA, James Fitzpatrick) will hit the runway for the SteinPag Women’s Pole Vault, marking her return at her home track and competing for the first time in Australia as the reigning Olympic champion.
Kennedy will lead the way for a rising crop of vaulters including Olivia Gross (WA, James Fitzpatrick) and Daisy Brayshaw (WA, Lauren Ramsden & James Fitzpatrick), while Misaka Morota (JPN) will look to spoil the Australian party.
“I’m excited to be back competing,” Kennedy said.
“With it being so early in the season, I’ll be jumping off a half run-up, but after a year and half away, returning to competition is a win in itself for myself and my team.”
World Championships medallist Kurtis Marschall (WA, Declan Carruthers) will also be out to capitalise on one of the world’s premier pole vault venues, approaching the contest with a 5.95m personal best and aspirations of clearing six metres for the first time in his career.
With a growing reputation as the fastest track in the country, the WA Athletics Stadium will host Australia’s top sprinters including Australian 100m champion Rohan Browning (NSW, Jack Edwards), along with Oceania record holder Zoe Hobbs (NZL) and Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman).
Returning to the scene of his 10.01-seocnd national triumph in 2025, Browning will face off against Joshua Azzopardi (NSW, Rob Marks) in the Concord Business Advisory Men’s 100m – featuring both heats and finals.
“I’m excited to get back to Perth, I have beautiful memories there from the National Championships last year,” Browning said.
“My training has been going well. I’m opening this season with a new coach for the first time in my career, and I really have no idea where I’m at.
“The emergence of these young guys has kept me really sharp, but I’ve got no plans of going anywhere, not just yet.”
The sprinting action will roll into the Para-athletics ranks, where Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan) and Nathan Jason (QLD, Vincent Jason) will look to build on their Commonwealth Games bids in The Paragon Consultants Men’s and Women’s Ambulant 100m races, while Australia’s fastest Paralympian Chad Perris (ACT, Matt Beckenham) gets ready to roar.
Olympic finalist Peter Bol (WA, Justin Rinaldi) is poised to put on a masterclass in the SteinPag Men’s 800m, returning to the city in which he grew up to take on 2024 Australian champion Luke Boyes (NSW, Ben St Lawrence), rising star Daniel Williams (NSW, Andrew Rowlings) and international training partner Tiarnan Crorken (GBR).
The national record holder at 1:42.55 is ready to rumble:
“I’m super excited, Perth is home. It’s where I broke the national record before I broke it again in Monaco. I’m excited to run in front of a home crowd and start my season in Perth.
“Running back home is super important because we spend so much of our time overseas. I always have the home court advantage in Perth.”
Adding to the middle-distance action, Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) will face off against a fearless Nozomi Tanaka (JPN) in the Paragon Consultants Women’s 1500m – both owning sub-four minute personal bests.
Olympic high jumper Yual Reath (VIC, Mike Barber) will bring the show to the field, while World Championships representative Desleigh Owusu (NSW, Andrew Murphy) will take on Under-20 star Izobelle Louison-Roe (NSW, Karen Roe) in the Women’s Triple Jump.
The hurdles contests will be led by a showdown between the Olympic duo of Sarah Carli (NSW, Abbie Taddeo) and Alanah Yukich (WA, Rose Monday) in the SRG Global Women’s 400m Hurdles, as Michelle Jenneke (NSW, Bronwyn Thompson) approaches the SRG Global Women’s 100m Hurdles in scorching form after a World Athletics Indoor Championships qualifier last week.
The 2026 Perth Track Classic will take place at the WA Athletics Stadium on February 14 as part of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series. The meet is supported by the Western Australia Government, through the Department of Cultural Industries, Tourism and Sport and Venues West.
Tickets can be purchased HERE. Full entry lists available HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 12/2/2026
