The full calendar of track and field dates for the 2023-24 summer season has been unveiled with a jam-packed schedule of events climaxing with the 2024 Jennian Homes Track & Field Championships at Newtown Park, Wellington 14-17 March.
The season starts in earnest with the Bays Night of 5s in Auckland on Saturday 16 December with its traditional pre-Christmas slot before the first Classic event of the summer season hits Timaru with the Lovelock Classic on Saturday 6 January.
New Zealand continues to boast two World Continental Tour Bronze meets with the International Track Meet (ITM) in Christchurch scheduled for Saturday 24 February and the Sir Graeme Douglas International presented by Harcourts Cooper & Co in Auckland set for Sunday 10 March.
The slightly later date in the calendar of the 2024 Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships will extend the domestic track and field season and give centres an additional week to schedule their key competitions during February.
The New Zealand Combined Events Championships takes place at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin – one of the country’s premier combined events facilities – on the weekend of 17/18 February.
New Zealand Track & Field Championships will extend the domestic track and field season and give centres an additional week to schedule their key competitions during February.
The mid-March date for nationals will provide an extra week during a busy summer for athletes to prepare for the pinnacle national event of the season and also allow a shorter turnaround for athletes competing at the key meets across the Tasman including the Australian Championships.
For our elite performers the calendar will also prove pivotal in their preparations for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games later in the year.
Oceania Athletics has opted to reduce the number of Continental Tour Meetings in the 2023-24 season with the Bays Night of 5s and the Sola Power Throwers Meet instead recognised as National Permit Meets alongside the Lovelock and Porritt Classics.
Athletics NZ Competitions Manager Jason Cameron said: “An alluring summer of domestic and international competition awaits our athletes as the countdown continues to the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. It will be an action-packed New Zealand schedule with two Continental Tour meets, three World Challenger meets, four National Permit Meets and a selection of other national championships and other domestic competitions culminating with the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Wellington.”
***The U20 and senior NZ Mile and 3000m Championships along with the event grid for the summer meets will be finalised in September.
Key summer dates:
Sat 16 Dec – Bays Night of 5s – Auckland – National Permit Meet
Sat 6 Jan – Lovelock Classic – Timaru – National Permit Meet
Sat 20 Jan – Potts Classic 25th Anniversary Meet – Hastings – World Challenger
Wed 24 Jan – Jumps to Music – Hawera
Sat 27 Jan – PAK’nSAVE Cooks Classic – Whanganui – World Challenger
Fri 2 Feb – Team Ledger Harcourts Capital Classic 20TH Anniversary Meet – Wellington – World Challenger
Sat 3 Feb – Sola Power Throwers Meet – Lower Hutt – National Permit Meet
Sat 10 Feb – Porritt Classic Supported by Hamilton City Council – National Permit Meet
Sat-Sun 17/18 Feb – NZ Combined Events Championships – Dunedin
Sat-Sun 17/18 Feb – NZ Masters Track & Field Championships – Christchurch
Sat 24 Feb – International Track Meet (ITM) – Christchurch – World Continental Tour Bronze
Sun 10 Mar – Sir Graeme Douglas International presented by Harcourts Cooper & Co – Auckland – World Continental Tour Bronze
Thur-Sun 14-17 March – Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships – Wellington