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The Oceania Area Championships in Athletics is an athletics event run by the Oceania Athletics Association which is held every year. In 1990 the Oceania Athletic Championships started as an area championships for the IAAF member countries of Oceania. Initially conceived as a quadrennial event, the championships change to a biennial format in 1996. The event had junior events until a merger with the Oceania Youth Championships occurred in 2000. Both senior and youth events are now held at the championships in a unified competition. Athletics New Zealand and Athletics Australia generally send weakened teams due to the small size of the other competing nations.
Contents
- Oceania Area Championships in Athletics
- Sub Regional Championships
- Melanesian Championships
- Micronesian Championships
- Polynesian Championships
- Oceania Cup
- References
After the year 2010, there were significant changes in the format of the competition being now held as Oceania Area Championships.
Oceania Area Championships in Athletics
In the year 2011, the sub-regional Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian Championships were replaced by the new Oceania Regional Championships, using the new "East–West" format. Medals are now awarded for athletes from both the Eastern and the Western Region by separating the results correspondingly (see here for the regional classification). From 2012 on, the format was also adopted for the Oceania Championships with a name change to Oceania Area Championships (resulting in doubling the number of medals), now being held annually.
Sub-Regional Championships
Between 2000 and 2009, sub-regional championships were held for three regions.
Melanesian Championships
Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu competed for the Melanesian Championships.
Micronesian Championships
Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau competed for the Micronesian Championships.
Polynesian Championships
American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu competed for the Polynesian Championships.
Oceania Cup
In addition, there was a short-lived Oceania Cup, where teams from Australia, New Zealand, and the respective host country competed with combined teams from Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The Australian team recruited from the winner team of the Australian Clubs Championships, which was in both years the University of Queensland Athletic Club.