Aidan Murphy capped a stunning sprint double at the 2026 Oceania Athletics Championships, adding the 200m title to his 400m crown after coming within touching distance of one of Australian athletics’ oldest records.
The South Australian stormed to 44.44 seconds in the 400m on day two, rising to second on the Australian all-time list and narrowly missing Darren Clark’s national record of 44.38, set back in 1988. Victorian Thomas Reynolds pushed him to a personal best of 44.69 for second, with Luke van Ratingen claiming bronze in 45.04.
Murphy returned on day three to back it up in the 200m, clocking 20.05 into a near-still wind to complete the double. With his sights set on the 200m at Commonwealth Games rather than both sprint events, it was a statement performance from the 22-year-old.
“I was after another sub-20, but we are getting there,” Murphy said, following his 19.88 second performance behind Gout Gout at last month’s national championships. “I’ve had my head down for two years in silence and I’m just happy to be here right now, finally seeing it all pay off.”
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New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs proved untouchable in the Women’s 100m, cruising to the Oceania title in 11.00 (+0.9) ahead of a personal best 11.29s to Ebony Lane and Australian champion Georgia Harris (11.39). Joshua Azzopardi claimed the Men’s 100m title on day three, clocking 10.21 in the final after equalling the meet record in the semis. The women’s 400m was an Australian clean sweep, with Ellie Beer taking gold in 51.99 ahead of Mia Gross (52.25) and Alice Dixon (52.62), a personal best. Gross backed up to take out the 200m in a season’s best 23.20s (+1.4).
The Women’s Long Jump delivered the championships’ most dramatic moment, with Commonwealth silver medallist Brooke Buschkuehl edging World Under 20 champion Delta Amidzovski by a single centimetre. Buschkuehl produced a fifth-round effort of 6.70m to snatch the title after Amidzovski had led with 6.69m. It was a mirror of their Australian Athletics Championships duel, where Buschkuehl also won in the closing rounds.
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Matthew Hunt ran a scorching 49.33-second personal best in the 400m Hurdles heats, before returning to easily win the final in 49.77s. Sarah Carli claimed her third straight title in 55.33s over Alanah Yukich (56.12).
Eighteen-year-old Izobelle Louison-Roe claimed her first open title in the Women’s High Jump, clearing 1.85m ahead of New Zealand’s Imogen Skelton. She then finished second in the triple jump with a 13.32m (+1.8) leap, behind Desleigh Owusu (13.64w, 13.56 legal). Olympic high jumper Yual Reath posted his best result in two years with a 2.28m clearance to take the men’s title, bouncing back from a no-height in Tokyo the previous week.
Michelle Jenneke proved she remains Oceania’s best over the barriers, winning the Women’s 100m Hurdles in 12.87, while Aiden Hinson defended his Triple Jump title with a 16.25m opening jump. Cameron McEntyre claimed his first Oceania Javelin title at 80.53m, and Olympic discus thrower Taryn Gollshewsky completed a hat-trick of Oceania titles at 57.54m.
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In the Para-athletics, Lee O’Halloran set an Australian record in the Shot Put F46 with 14.77m, while Paralympic sprinter Telaya Blacksmith blazed to 400m Ambulant gold in 59.29 seconds.
The championships featured top performers from Australia and New Zealand as well as Pacific nations, with the two-sport powerhouses trading blows across track and field throughout the Darwin event.
