The Western Australian Athletics Stadium is a sports stadium in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. It is the main facility for the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

in Perth. It was constructed to replace the ageing

Perry Lakes Stadium Perry Lakes Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium adjacent to Perry Lakes in Floreat, Western Australia. It was built and funded by the State Government and the City of Perth in 1962 for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and had ...

nearby, which had been in use since the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The stadium houses the head offices of Athletics Western Australia and is a major facility for athletes with the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. Previously, if elite athletes from Western Australian needed to train or ...

. The stadium is also used for soccer, with Subiaco AFC playing home games at the stadium from 2014.

Opening

The opening ceremony was conducted on 26 May 2009, by the Premier of Western Australia,

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

, and included ceremonial activities to acknowledge the Aboriginal landowners as well as an inaugural 100m sprint event.

Facilities

The stadium incorporates features which honour some of Western Australia's past sporting heroes. These include the

Shirley Strickland Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. ...

Grandstand, the

Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the re ...

Forecourt and the Wally Foreman Walk. In regard to track events, the Stadium provides a nine-lane 400-metre track and two 12-lane 110-metre sprint straights. For field events, there are five jumps pits, four

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

runways, four shot put circles, two hammer and discus cages and two high jump and javelin sites. The infield provides for soccerPerthGlory.com.a
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rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

to be played.

Usage

Besides sporting events, the stadium can be configured to hold major concerts. Stevie Nicks performed the inaugural concert on 26 November 2011. Only one concert has been held at the venue. A Lenny Kravitz concert scheduled for 28 March 2012 was cancelled and an "80's Dance Picnic Party" featuring

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...

and

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

scheduled for 21 January 2012 relocated to the neighboring

Challenge Stadium Perth Superdrome, known as HBF Stadium under a commercial naming rights arrangement, is a sports complex in Perth, Western Australia. It is home to the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). The venue is located in the suburb of Mount Cl ...

References

{{VenuesWest Venues Athletics (track and field) venues in Australia Multi-purpose stadiums in Australia Soccer venues in Perth, Western Australia Floreat, Western Australia