Track records broken at Oceania Athletics Championships in Mackay

National records have been broken on a regional city’s athletics track proving its sporting facilities stack up to the challenge of an elite event and the city sprints forward as a world-class venue.

National records were broken on Mackay’s athletics track proving the region’s sporting facilities stack up to the challenge of an elite event and the city sprints forward as a world-class venue.

Nearly every hotel and motel bed in Mackay is full and millions will be injected into region’s economy as it plays host to the highest ranking athletics meet in this part of the world.

Athletes were hyped over the Mackay Aquatic Recreation Complex track after Townsville’s Jake Doran broke a championship record and New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs an area record in the 100m senior finals event at the Oceania Athletics Championships.

Oceania Athletics competitions manager Tom O’Shaughnessy said to have a facility where two records were broken was “fantastic”.

“It’ll take a lot of beatings to beat the records on this track,” Mr O’Shaughnessy said.

“The track’s fast and we want to bring more events here.”

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The Oceania Championships are the highest ranking meet for athletics for this part of the world and it is the first time the event has been held in Mackay.

Mayor Greg Williamson said there was already talk to bring more elite competitions to the region.

“We’ve got representatives from some of the national bodies here and they’re already talking to us about national athletics outside of Oceania,” he said.

“Because the facilities stack up.”

Over five days about 950 athletes from 19 federations will compete in the Championships, which for the first time will be inclusive of all age groups and abilities.

Invitational athlete Naa Anang who ran a 11.31 time, Bree Masters, for Australia, who ran a 11.34 time, winner Zoe Hobbs, who claimed a new Oceania record with a time of 11.09O and in third place Ella Connolly, for Australia, who came in at 11.53, in the 100m senior women's final at the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships held in Mackay.

Mr O’Shaughnessy said there were under 16, under 18, under 20, open, masters and para athletes at the championships.

“It’s the first time the area para and area senior championships have been in the same place anywhere in the world,” he said.

“Mackay has everything that we want and nothing that we don’t want. We love it here.”

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As the Olympics stare down upon Queensland, Mr Williamson said this event highlighted a few creases that would need to be ironed out at the $27m ARC facility ahead of 2032.

“We’re going to have to so something about broadcast quality lights if we’re to run into the summer months of the year,” he said.

“We’ve got to put a roof over the major pool in the ARC.”

Mr Williamson said there also needed to be a set up for broadcasting any events rather than just “having a tent”.

“But that’s not huge expenses compared to the $27m to put it up,” he said.

Mackay Regional Council was working with the Queensland Olympic Committee and had formed a “Mayor’s task force … with a focus on the 2032 Olympics”.

“That’s about building pathways for our young people who might be 10, 11, 12, 13 years old right now, who can be … participants in the Olympic Games,” Mr Williamson said.

“So we need as a community to build those pathways … It’s not just about facilities.

“We’ve got to bang the drum really hard to say that we have a very very good track record of producing athletes in all genres.”

Soon Mackay will have a crack mountain bike track that Mr Williamson said would “bring an extra 30,000 visitors to our region each year”.

From hosting national basketball and cricket competitions and top tier rugby league matches, Mr Williamson said Mackay had proven “not just to our community but to the Australian sporting community that we can host, we can do events really well and we’re a welcoming community”.

This event had brought about 1300 people to the region and Mr Williamson said nearly every bed in the city was booked out.

Accommodation was driven by private enterprise, he said.

“If private enterprise can see a growing community, growing opportunities, and in events tourism,” Mr Williamson said.

“We’ve got to rely on private enterprise to do their bit in getting behind Mackay and putting more accommodation, more tourism products.”