The Oceania Athletics Championships is an
athletics event organized by the
Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) for the
World Athletics (WA) (formerly the
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
) member associations of the
Oceania region. First held in 1990 in
Suva
Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...
, it was initially conceived as a quadrennial event; however, after the second edition in 1994, the championships changed to a biennial event. After the 2010 championships, there were significant changes in the format of the competition. Now being held as a regional championships (in 2011 and 2012), the associations were divided into two divisions based on their geographical location (either east or west). However, the competition was revised back to its original format as an area championships in 2013.
The event has been held jointly with the
Under-20 championships since 1994 and
Under-18 championships since 2000. For the first time in 2014,
para-athletics events were included in the championships.
Since the inaugural championships in 1990 (up until 2017), unlike the rest of the OAA member federations, only
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand send their second tier teams to compete in the championships. This was to allow
pacific island nations to be competitive and challenge for medals.
[
] However, in 2019, the championships became a fully tier-one competition when the then
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
(now
World Athletics), made a change in the qualification system for the
2019 World Championships in
Doha as well as the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
set for
Tokyo. The rule change saw athletes would only qualify for either competition through their
World Athletics ranking points. This meant that continental championships were now offering more points under the WA world rankings system.
Editions
The 2021 edition set for
Korman Stadium in Port Vila was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first cancellation of the event.
All-time medal table
The all-time Oceania Athletics Championships medal table is the sum of all medals won by OAA member federations, associate members, as well as invited teams from the very first edition till the most recent championships in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. All medals counted are based on the official results posted on the
Oceania Athletics Association website. Medals won by Para-athletes are also included.
Associate members with medals are listed in ''italic''.
* Associate members of OAA - Not recognized by
World Athletics.
* Regional Australia is a team from Northern Australia competing as invitees at every championships since 2013.
* Tahiti West Coast competed once back in 2013 as a local team from the host federation of French Polynesia.
* Australia Masters team competed once back in 2015 as an invited team from the host federation of Australia.
As of 2019, only
Tuvalu (OAA member federation) and
Niue (OAA associate member) have yet to win a medal.
Championship records
Regional Championships
Oceania Athletics has three regions. Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Since 2000, each region, in a non area championships year hold their own regional championships. The regions at the regional meetings decide the location for the Championships.
[
]
Melanesian Championships
, , , , , , and competed for
the Melanesian Championships.
Micronesian Championships
, , , , , , and competed for
the Micronesian Championships.
Polynesian Championships
, , , , , , , and competed for the Polynesian Championships.
Oceania Cup
In addition, there was a short-lived Oceania Cup, where teams from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
New Zealand, and the respective host country competed with combined teams from Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
[
][
][
][
][
][
] The Australian team recruited from the winner team of the Australian Clubs Championships, which was, in both years, the University of Queensland Athletic Club.[
][
]
References
External links
Official Athletics Oceania website
{{Oceanian Championships
Athletics
Athletics
Recurring sporting events established in 1990