Oceania Area Championships in Athletics
Athletics event
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The Oceania Athletics Championships is an athletics event organized by the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) for the World Athletics (WA; formerly the IAAF) member associations of the Oceania region.[1]
| Oceania Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | Athletics Oceania Championships |
| Frequency | biennial |
| Location | various |
| Inaugurated | 1990 |
Previous event | Suva 2024 |
Next event | Darwin 2026 |
| Organised by | Oceania Athletics |
| Website | OAA Official |
The event has been held jointly with the Under-20 Championships since 1994, Under-18 Championships since 2000, the Para Championships since 2022, and the Masters Championships since 2024.
History
First held in 1990 in Suva, it was initially conceived as a quadrennial event; however, after the second edition in 1994, the championships changed to a biennial event. After the 2010 championships, there were significant changes in the format of the competition. Now being held as a regional championships (in 2011 and 2012), the associations were divided into two divisions based on their geographical location (either east or west).[2] However, the competition was revised back to its original format as an area championships in 2013.[3][4]
Since the inaugural championships in 1990 (up until 2017), unlike the rest of the OAA member federations, only Australia and New Zealand send their second tier teams to compete in the championships. This was to allow Pacific Island nations to be competitive and challenge for medals.[5] However, in 2019, the championships increased in competition status with the then IAAF (now World Athletics) changing the qualification criteria for the 2019 World Championships in Doha and the 2020 Summer Olympics, whereby athletes could qualify through World Athletics ranking points: continental - ie. area - championships were granted 'tier-one' status offering more ranking points under the WA world rankings system.[6][7]
The 2021 edition set for Korman Stadium in Port Vila was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first cancellation of the event.[8]
Editions
Medals (1990-2026)
The all-time Oceania Athletics Championships medal table is the sum of all medals won by OAA member federations, associate members, as well as invited teams from the very first edition till the most recent championships in 2026. All medals counted are based on the official results posted on the Oceania Athletics Association website.
Associate members with medals are listed in italic. Also listed in italic but are unranked are invited athletics teams.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Australia | 235 | 235 | 195 | 665 |
| 2 |  New Zealand | 210 | 137 | 101 | 448 |
| 3 |  Papua New Guinea | 90 | 89 | 81 | 260 |
| 4 |  Fiji | 75 | 60 | 61 | 196 |
| 5 |  Samoa | 34 | 18 | 23 | 75 |
| 6 |  Tonga | 25 | 35 | 43 | 103 |
| 7 |  French Polynesia | 15 | 24 | 23 | 62 |
| 8 |  New Caledonia[1] | 12 | 21 | 20 | 53 |
| 9 |  Solomon Islands | 10 | 10 | 12 | 32 |
| – | Regional Australia[2] | 8 | 12 | 10 | 30 |
| 10 |  Vanuatu | 7 | 16 | 16 | 39 |
| 11 |  Cook Islands | 5 | 13 | 13 | 31 |
| 12 |  Guam | 5 | 11 | 17 | 33 |
| 13 |  Norfolk Island | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 |  American Samoa | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| 15 |  Kiribati | 1 | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| 16 |  Northern Mariana Islands | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| – | Tahiti West Coast[3] | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| – | Australian Masters team[4] | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 |  Palau | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Wallis and Futuna[1] | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 19 |  Nauru | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 20 |  Federated States of Micronesia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Marshall Islands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (21 entries) | 741 | 700 | 643 | 2,084 | |
- ^[1] Associate members of OAA - Not recognized by World Athletics. Since 2019, associate members are not eligible for championship medals.
- ^[2] Regional Australia is an invitational team from Northern Australia, competed at every championships since 2013. Since 2019, invitational teams are not eligible for championship medals.
- ^[3] Tahiti West Coast competed once in 2013 as a local team from the host federation of French Polynesia.
- ^[4] Australia Masters team competed once in 2015 as an invited team from the host federation of Australia.
As of 2019, only Tuvalu (OAA member federation) and Niue (OAA associate member) have yet to win a medal.