For the first time since 2008, the Victorian Country Athletics Championships will be heading up to the North East this January. Athletics Victoria and Albury Athletics are excited to announce the Quest Albury Victorian Country Athletics Championships will be held in Albury for the first time in 18 years, a celebration of athletics offering events in all age groups from under 14 to over 60. Both metro and country athletes can compete and enjoy the festivities that the region has to offer. The three-day event will be held from Saturday, 24 January 2026 – Monday, 26 January at the Les O’Brien Athletics Precinct, Albury. The individual entries opened this week, and organisers expect to attract around 600 athletes to compete in over 300 track and field events over the three-day championship from all over regional metropolitan Melbourne and even from interstate. This championship is normally rotated between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. Only Athletics Victoria athlete members born in 2014 or before, or those with an equivalent level of membership from another Australian Athletics member association are eligible to compete at the Victorian Country events. The championship is a sanctioned event which athletes can qualify for nationals and gives an athlete the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. President of Albury Athletics, Bernie Cannan, said it was thrilling to have such a large meet in the local area. “This is something our club has been working towards for a while now, to be able to host and bring an event like this to our local area and club athletes,” he said. “It’s really exciting to have a big event in our area and being able to utilise our fantastic facility.” This year in partnership with Little Athletics Victoria (LAVic), Athletics Victoria (AV) is pleased to reintroduce an LAVic/AV Dual Membership. Last provided in 2018, the LAVic/AV Dual Membership is designed to provide age-eligible athletes the opportunity to compete across the two bodies – current LAVic members can effectively purchase a half price AV Junior Base Membership. “For some of our local little athletic members they can consider a dual membership with Athletics Victoria, enter into the championship and be a part of this amazing opportunity of competing at a local event,” Cannan said. For more information or to register, visit https://athsvic.org.au/events/victorian-country-track-field-championships.
