Bendigo, Australia, to host 2014 Oceania Masters Championships

Bendigo, a town in southeast Australia, doesn’t have the profile of a Sydney or Brisbane, but it’s the host of the 2014 Oceania Masters Championships, a regional WMA meet. The announcement was made a couple days ago in the local newspaper. See it here. “The championships were last held in Papeete, Tahiti, in 2010 and will go to Tauranga in New Zealand’s North Island in February next year where Athletics Bendigo representatives will promote the Bendigo championships,” Athletics Bendigo president Craig Burnett was quoted as saying. Bendigo’s La Trobe University Athletics Complex will host all of the stadia events, we learn. The last time Oz hosted Oceania was 2008, in Townsville.

La Trobe University's track complex will host about 400 entrants at Oceanias.

Here’s the story, in case the link goes down under:

BENDIGO has further enhanced its status as regional Australia’s sporting capital by securing the rights to host the 17th Oceania Masters Athletics Championships in 2014.

The biennial championships, which rotate between New Zealand, the Pacific Island nations and Australia, are expected to attract more than 400 masters competitors over the age of 30 years for the event from January 5 to 11, 2014.

A full program of track and field events will be contested in all of the five-year age groups, starting from 30-35.

Cross-country running, road race walks and half marathon events will also be staged.

Bendigo’s La Trobe University Athletics Complex will host all of the in-stadia events, with other local venues and locations to be used for the walks, half marathon and cross-country running.

“The championships were last held in Papeete, Tahiti in 2010 and will go to Tauranga in New Zealand’s North Island in February next year where Athletics Bendigo representatives will promote the Bendigo championships,” Athletics Bendigo president Craig Burnett said.

The City of Greater Bendigo expects the games will provide a major economical boost to the city.

“We are absolutely delighted to have secured the Oceania Masters Championships and we are looking forward to this unique opportunity to showcase Bendigo to national and international athletes,” City of Greater Bendigo mayor Rod Fyffe said.

“We will also promote everything our region has to offer including our local arts and culture, our major tourist attractions and our great restaurants, cafes and wineries to the athletes and their families.

“The attraction of this number of national and international athletes and their families for up to two weeks in early January will inject over $1 million into the Bendigo economy providing a significant boost to local accommodation, food and tourism business in what is traditionally a quiet period post-Christmas.”

The Oceania Masters Athletics Championships joins the William Loud Bendigo International Tennis tournament and the Australian Open snooker titles as three world-class sporting events staged in Bendigo.