Perth to Host Track and Field Decider
Almost half a million dollars in prize money will be awarded to Australia’s top track and field athletes across the 2011 Australian Athletics Tour, which for the first time in Australian track and field history is set to pit the nation’s top performers against one another in a hard-fought race for cash.
The new-look domestic series, which was launched by WAIS world, Olympic, world indoor and Commonwealth Games pole vault champion Steve Hooker and fellow WAIS and Australian Flame teammate Jody Henry in Perth over the weekend, will kick off with the Brisbane Athletics Classic at QEII Stadium on Friday, February 11 next year and comprise four competition rounds as well as a two-day final in Perth, where four Tour champions will be crowned in the sprints/hurdles, jumps, throws and distance divisions.
The State Government of Western Australia today announced its support in staging the all-new Tour final, to be held at the Western Australian Athletics Stadium from April 1 to 2, 2011.
Eventscorp Executive Director David van Ooran said he was thrilled Perth would be hosting the Tour final.
“We recognise that this is a great opportunity for Perth and the benefits for us are significant, with the event expected to attract about 1200 visitors injecting $1.45million into the State’s economy,” Mr van Ooran said.
“The final will showcase Western Australia’s new $73million athletics stadium and also gives us the chance to illustrate the many extraordinary experiences on offer in WA.
“Eventscorp aims to strike a balance between sporting and arts and cultural events and the Australian Athletics Tour Final Perth certainly adds strength and diversity to our events calendar.”
The Tour final will be a feature of next year’s stellar domestic athletics schedule, where a record $430,000 will be up for grabs for participating athletes.
Winners of each of the four divisions – sprints/hurdles, jumps, throws and distance – will receive $10,000 cash, with further prizemoney to be awarded to the top six placegetters in each points race.
The new format sets the stage for an intriguing summer of sport, with world discus champion Dani Samuels set to take on Commonwealth Games champions Jarrod Bannister (javelin throw) and Benn Harradine (discus throw) in the throws division, Commonwealth Games gold medallists Sally Pearson (100m hurdles), Joel Milburn (4x400m relay), Ben Offereins (4x400m relay) and Sean Wroe (4x400m relay) to go head-to-head in the sprints/hurdles race, world, Olympic, world indoor and Commonwealth Games pole vault champion Steve Hooker to take on world indoor and Commonwealth Games champion Fabrice Lapierre (long jump) and world championships bronze medallist Mitchell Watt (long jump) in the battle for the jumps crown and track stars Collis Birmingham, Ryan Gregson, Craig Mottram and Jeff Riseley all in line for the distance trophy.
Points will be awarded to placegetters throughout the Australian Athletics Tour, with bonus points up for grabs at the Australian Athletics Tour Final and for world-standard performances as per the 2010 IAAF world rankings lists. A maximum of 10 bonus points will be awarded for a top-four world standard performance.
Throughout the season top-10 ladders for each of the four divisions will stir up fierce rivalry between competing athletes and, with all four divisions likely to go right down to the wire, the bonus points on offer at the Tour final in Perth will weigh heavily into the final standings.
An all-star Australian cast will headline the 2011 Tour alongside a swag of international names set to take it right up to our biggest stars en route to the 2011 IAAF world championships in Daegu (KOR). Further information regarding international athlete arrivals will be made available in coming months.
2011 Australian Athletics Tour
Round 1: Brisbane Athletics Classic – Friday February 11, 2011
Round 2: Briggs Athletics Classic – Sunday February 20, 2011
Round 3: Melbourne Track Classic – Thursday March 3, 2011
Round 4: Sydney Track Classic – Saturday March 19, 2011
Australian Athletics Tour Final Perth: Friday-Saturday April 1-2, 2011
– Athletics Australia