 | |
| Jurisdiction | Oceania |
|---|---|
| Membership | 20 member + 3 associate member federations |
| Abbreviation | Oceania Athletics |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Affiliation | World Athletics |
| Headquarters | Varsity Lakes,Gold Coast,Queensland,Australia |
| President | Robin Sapong-Eugenio |
| Official website | |
| athletics-oceania | |
TheOceania Athletics Association (more commonly known asOceania Athletics) is the governing body forathletics inOceania. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing bodyWorld Athletics. Oceania Athletics has 23 members (including 3 associate members) and is headquartered in theGold Coast.
The OAA was founded asOceania Amateur Athletic Organization (OAAA) on August 21, 1969, during a "Congress of the delegates of Member Countries of the Australasian Area" held inPort Moresby, thenTerritory of Papua and New Guinea, at the time of the 3rdSouth Pacific Games. Six out of the nine Member Federations attended (Australia,Nauru,Papua New Guinea,Tonga,New Hebrides, now calledVanuatu, andWestern Samoa, nowSamoa).Fiji andNew Zealand sent letters of support, while theCook Islands were not represented. Observers fromAmerican Samoa,Solomon Islands,French Polynesia,Guam andNew Caledonia also attended.[1]
From this Congress a Committee of four members (non-elected) was formed to set up a draft of rules for the new Association, whose name today is Oceania Athletics Association. These members were:Arthur Hodsdon (Australia) as Chairman,Clive Lee (Australia),James Dunn (Papua New Guinea) and an unnamed New Zealander. From that year onwards the Association has been elected by Member Federations. The name was changed toOceania Athletics Association (OAA) in February 2007.[2]
Oceania Athletics' governance is split between the main bodies:[3]
Oceania Athletics now has 20 members and 3 associate members. Each member gets one vote at the Congress.[3]
A modification of Article 4.2 ofWorld Athletics constitution set new rules limiting its membership as follows:"The national governing body for Athletics in any Country or Territory shallbe eligible for Membership. Members that represented Territories on31 December 2005 shall continue to be Members. No new Territories shallbe admitted to the Membership."[4]
As a consequence, the OAA made constitutional amendments[5] to its Article 2.5, introducing an associate membership to allow territories likeNew Caledonia,Niue, andWallis and Futuna to participate officially "in OAA activities, including area and regional competitions".[6] This also applies forTokelau, where the first athletics event ever took place recently.[7]
In 2008,New Caledonia became the first associate member,[2][8] Niue followed in 2009.[2]
The current president of the association, Robin Sapong Eugenios (Northern Marianas) wasfirstly elected in December 2019 at the OAA Special Congress.
| Name | Country | Presidency |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur Hodsdon |  Australia | 1969–1978 |
| Lee Morrison | Australia | 1978–1985 |
| Clive Lee | Australia | 1985–1991 |
| Peter Anderson |  Papua New Guinea | 1991–1995 |
| Viliame S Tunidau |  Fiji | 1995–1999 |
| Anne Tierney |  Cook Islands | 1999–2007 |
| Geoff Gardner |  Norfolk Island | 2007–2019 |
| Robin Sapong-Eugenio |  Northern Mariana Islands | 2019–present |
The OAA holds the following championships:
Moreover, the following regional championships were organized:
In 2011, a new regional concept was introduced, and the three regional championships and the Oceania Championships were unified to the Oceania Regional (or Area) Championships, or simply again Oceania Championships. Two regions "East" and "West" were classified. Athletes from the two regions may compete together at the championships, but results will be separated for rankings purposes, and medals are awarded separately.
| Africa (CAA) |
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| Asia (AA) |
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| Europe (EAA) |
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| North America (NACAC) |
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| Oceania (OAA) | ||||||||||||||
| South America (CONSUDATLE) | ||||||||||||||
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