There’s a lot to love about Australian athletics right now and community sentiment is high.
We surveyed our readers last month, with 621 responses providing insight in the current state of Australian athletics.
Favourite Athletes
Perhaps not surprisingly, Jessica Hull and Gout Gout are the athletics community’s favourite athletes. But there’s a huge diversity of answers across this free response question.
Top 5 Favourite Men’s Athletes
- Gout Gout (24%)
- Cameron Myers (14%)
- Lachlan Kennedy (12%)
- Peter Bol (9%)
- Seth O’Donnell (6%)
- Matt Denny (6%)
- Olli Hoare (5%)
- Rohan Browning (4%)
- Others <4% each (20%)
A surprising addition is Australian 5000m champion Seth O’Donnell, who has established a cult following with this free flowing mullet and bold racing – bringing some rock’n’roll to distance events.
Top 5 Favourite Female Athletes
- Jessica Hull (33%)
- Nina Kennedy (8%)
- Nicola Olyslagers (7%)
- Torrie Lewis (7%)
- Bree Rizzo (6%)
- Abbey Caldwell (4%)
- Claudia Hollingsworth (4%)
- Ellie Beer (4%)
- Eleanor Patterson (4%)
- Others <4% each (23%)
Favourite Brand
- Nike (52%)
- Adidas (15%)
- Asics (12%)
- Puma (7%)
- Others (13%)
Sentiment towards state of Australian athletics
A huge 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Australian athletics is in a better state now than it was a decade ago, with 54% believing the sport has never been stronger.
What could make Australian athletics better?
Despite the huge confidence in the state of the sport there’s a number of themes that emerged from free responses about what could be done to improve the sport.
1. Media Coverage & Promotion
“Athletics often feels like the hidden sport only popular at Olympics and Comm Games level. More coverage is needed on national free-to-air TV.”
Key Insight: Athletics lacks regular mainstream visibility. Respondents want consistent media coverage and athlete storytelling to build public connection and commercial appeal.
2. Affordability & Financial Support
“Help with cost as it is very expensive to travel interstate for a family on lower earnings.”
Key Insight: Cost is a significant barrier to participation and progression. Families, especially in lower-income brackets, struggle with travel and competition expenses. Athletes need viable financial support to stay in the sport.
3. Pathways & Integration
“Integrate Little, Senior and Masters Aths. Create a clear and frictionless pathway.”
Key Insight: The development system feels fragmented. Respondents want aligned pathways from grassroots to elite, including school sport integration and unified championship structures.
4. Facilities and local events
“Better grass roots facilities”
Key Insight: Facilities and event quality at the local level need attention — not just elite meets.
5. Governance & Transparency
“Get people in those prime positions who will better Australian Athletics, not those who have a hidden (or not so) agenda.”
Key Insight: Trust in leadership is mixed. Respondents want transparency from governing bodies and stronger alignment with athlete and community interests.
6. Inclusivity & Participation
“More partnerships and support at recreational fun runs. Better spreading that athletics clubs are for and can benefit everyone.”
Key Insight: Athletics needs to broaden its base by connecting with the recreational running community, promoting inclusivity, and supporting para-athletes and young coaches.
7. Innovation in Event Formats
“More variety of events, different from the regular standard events.”
Key Insight: Audiences and participants are seeking more dynamic and innovative event formats to keep the sport engaging, both in-person and on broadcast.
Other feedback on Inside Athletics
We’re grateful for the amount of feedback we received about our platforms (insideathletics.com.au, aths.au, run2.au and spikes.au) – what we are doing well, and what we can do better. There’s a number of changes that we’re rolling out over the coming months – stay tuned!
