Oceania season signals approaching start of 2007 World Athletics Tour
Monday 22 January 2007
Monte-Carlo - As the indoor season commences in the northern hemisphere, the main outdoor season in the other half of the world is preparing to get into full swing this week. As such, thoughts naturally begin to turn to the start of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2007 in Melbourne, Australia on 2 March 2007, the principal one-day meeting season in Oceania.
The Telstra Melbourne Track Classic, an IAAF Grand Prix meeting, is the Area’s representative on the IAAF World Athletics Tour, and serves both as a climax to the international one-day meeting circuit in the Area and as the opening to the outdoor season in much of the rest of the world. This world class meeting last year had World 100m record holder Asafa Powell as its star, as he made his preparations to win the Commonwealth 100m title in the same city a few weeks later.
Leading up to this IAAF Grand Prix meeting in 2007, are two national series of Area Permit meetings in Oceania built around the Black Singlet competitions in New Zealand and the Telstra A-series in Australia.
Giving these Area one-day meetings extra significance beyond just the region, three of the fixtures - Canberra on 27 January, Sydney on 17 February, and Christchurch on 21 February - also allow participants to score World Athletics Tour points, ultimately to decide who qualifies for the 5th IAAF World Athletics Final, 22-23 September 2007, Stuttgart, Germany.
IAAF
Oceania – permit meet fixtures
January 2007
Wed 24 - Athletics New Zealand Black Singlet Meet, Dunedin
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Dunedin (NZL)
Sat 27 - Athletics New Zealand Black Singlet Meet, Wanganui
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Wanganui (NZL)
Sat 27 - Telstra A-series Grand Prix - Canberra *
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Canberra (AUS)
February 2007
Mon 5 - Athletics New Zealand Black Singlet Meet, Hamilton
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Hamilton (NZL)
Sat 10 - Athletics New Zealand Black Singlet Meet - Wellington
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Wellington (NZL)
Sat 17 - Telstra A-series Grand Prix - Sydney *
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Sydney (AUS)
Wed 21 - New Zealand Grand Prix - Christchurch *
(Oceania Area Permit Meetings) Christchurch (NZL)
March 2007
Fri 2 - Telstra Melbourne Track Classic – IAAF Grand Prix
(IAAF World Athletics Tour) Melbourne (AUS)
Calendar as @ 22 January 2007
(*) Area Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour