History

Athletics meets in Sydney as part of a structured national 'grand prix' series date back to 1989 (see table below). Throughout the 1990s in the lead up to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, Sydney enjoyed a number of high profile meets, but following the highs of the Olympic Games and a small crowd in 2001, Athletics Australia decentralised the Sydney meet away from Homebush, holding events instead in Campbelltown and Newcastle.

The situation remained that way until 2005 when Sydney University Athletics Club conducted their own track meet to celebrate the sesqui-centenary of the university. The meet had strong grass root support and the following year in 2006 Athletics NSW continued the approach by hosting the inaugural Sydney Track Classic.

2007 saw the reintroduction by Athletics Australia of the Sydney Grand Prix, based at Sydney Olympic Park, with the Sydney Track Classic operating as a major lead in meet earlier in the season. The same occurred the following year, but after the success of the 2008 Sydney Track Classic, Athletics NSW and Athletics Australia entered into partnership to deliver the Sydney Track Classic in 2009 as the only 'grand prix' high performance meet in Sydney.

The tradition of the Sydney Track Classic, as an event owned by Athletics NSW and having strong grassroot support from its membership, continues today. In 2009 the meet was ranked number one in Australia in terms of athlete performance by internationally recognised statistics service All-Athletics and retained that title in 2010 whilst also being ranked as the 52nd best athletics meet in the world.

Join us on 18 February, 2012 as we continue to grow Australia's premier athletics meet.

* Telstra Grand Prix meets held in Newcastle and Campbelltown
** Telstra Grand Prix meet held in Campbelltown
*** Australian Championships held in Sydney