Australian Masters Athletics has submitted the names of Julie Brims and John Meagher for consideration by Oceania Masters Athletics as OMA’s female and male nominees for World Masters Athletics’ 2024 Best Athlete of the Year.

Julie, from Queensland, won two outstanding gold medals in the W55 100 metres and 200 metres at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden in August, with age-graded performances in the high 90s. Julie completed her individual events with a silver medal in the 400 metres. John, from Victoria, won the M60 half marathon in Gothenburg, a gold medal in the 8km cross country and a silver medal in the 10km road race. John also set a 10,000 metres world record in Melbourne in July.

Congratulations to these two fine athletes who have both shone brightly on the world stage.

The AMA awards committee found the nominations not a straightforward choice and would like to recognise three other outstanding athletes: Janelle Delaney, from New South Wales for her track golds in Gothenburg in the W50 200 metres and 400 metres; Melissa Foster, from Western Australia, for her W45 long jump world record in Perth during February and Gothenburg silver medals in the long jump and triple jump; and David Chantrill from New South Wales for his Gothenburg gold medals in the M85 200 metres and 400 metres and silver in the 100 metres.

Joe Begley

Chair AMA Awards Committee

OMA 2025 Multi Events Championships to be ‘semi-virtual’
Oceania Masters Athletics (OMA) will hold its 2025 Multi Events Championships in conjunction with the Australian Masters Athletics Multi Events Championships in Brisbane in February – with provision for ‘virtual’ entries and performances from athletes in Oceania countries.
OMA president Cameron Burrows says the entry arrangements are designed to make it easier for masters athletes in Oceania to enter the 2025 OMA Multi Events Championships.
The AMA Multi Events Championships will be held at the State Athletics Facility at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, Brisbane, on the weekend of 22-23 February.
“In effect, the OMA 2025 Multi Events Championships will be held on a semi-virtual basis,” Mr Burrows said.
Oceania masters athletes can compete in person in the championships in Brisbane, or alternatively on a ‘postal’ or virtual competition basis over a six-week period from February to mid-March.

This will mean, for example, New Zealand masters athletes can enter the OMA championships by competing in the multi-events – heptathlon and decathlon – at their local masters centre either in February or up until 16 March.
The same applies for masters athletes in other Oceania countries and in other Australian locations outside of Brisbane.
Men and women can enter either of the multi-events. In other words, men can do the heptathlon and women can do the decathlon.
For those competing in the AMA Championships in Brisbane, there will be no additional entry fee to enter the OMA event. For the non-Brisbane-based multi-events, competitors will pay the local venue competition fee.
OMA Championships winners and place-getters will receive a certificate rather than a medal. All entrants will be eligible to set OMA Championships records.
Results for the virtual competitors are to be emailed to the OMA Statistician Clyde Riddoch at clydeR@outlook.com.au by 18 March 2025.
Enquiries regarding the heptathlon and decathlon championships in Brisbane can be sent to event coordinator Wilma Perkins at wilmaperkins@me.com
16 November 2024

OMA to hold Championships in Brisbane in 2025

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Oceania Masters Athletics (OMA) has announced the dates for the 2025 OMA Championships for the 22 member countries in the Oceania–South Pacific region.

President Cameron Burrows said the 2025 OMA Championships will be held in Brisbane from 6 to 10 September. The venue will be the State Athletics Facility at Nathan, part of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC), Queensland’s premier athletics facility.

Mr Burrows said this would return the OMA Championships to the alternate year to the World Masters Athletics (WMA) Outdoor Championships.  This year they were held in Gothenburg, Sweden and will next be held in Daegu, South Korea, in 2026.

“We had an OMA Championships in Suva, Fiji, in June this year, but this was out of sync with the previous alternate year schedule,” Mr Burrows said.  “With competition to be held over five days, we are hopeful that the 2025 Championships in Brisbane will attract several hundred competitors, and that as many countries as possible from the Oceania region will be represented.   

“OMA has also unveiled the association’s new logo to distinguish us from the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA). As OMA is separate from OAA, having our logo helps clarify that distinction,” he said. Mr Burrows said the new logo design reflected a dynamic, athletic spirit. The use of ochre orange, turquoise and lime green colours represented the natural landscapes of the Oceania region.       

The new logo features on the OMA website at www.oceania-masters-athletics.org

The 2024 World Masters Mountain Running Championships

Canfranc, Spain 13-15 Sep 24. https://www.canfranc2024wmmrc.com/

report by Iain Best (AUS)

Photo Gallery.  Photos by Marco Gulberti

The Championships consisted of three events:
13 Sep 24 – Uphill 6k 986m +
14 Sep 24 – Long Distance 34k 1967m +/-
15 Sep 24 – Classic 17k 1058m +/-

Despite still being summer, the weather was particularly un-summery with the uphill race finishing in snow.

Australia had four athletes competing throughout the weekend. In the M35 Uphill race was Iain Best and Stephen Brown coming 7th and 16th. In the M65 Uphill race was Michael Phillips who finished 19th.

On day two, in the Long Distance race, Australia had Lou Clifton who came 7th in the W50 category.

On day three, Stephen Brown backed up his race on friday to finish 12th in the M35 Classic race.

The Pyrenees proved an amazing place to run and the event attracted over 1000 runners from more than 25 countries. The organisers invested a lot to make the event an exciting spectacle and deserving of its world championship title.

The 2025 WMMRC will be held in Meduno, Italy 29-31 Aug 25. Further information will be published by the end of the year on the event website https://www.meduno2025wmmrc.org/