Maurie Plant Meet


The Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne is an annual outdoor track and field meeting which takes place in February at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne, Australia since 2023. Last held under the old name, Melbourne Track Classic, in early March 2016, prior to 2012 the meeting was held at the Olympic Park Stadium.
The competition was inaugurated in the late 1980s at the Olympic Stadium and gained a place on the IAAF Grand Prix circuit in its formative years. It remained on the major international outdoor track and field circuit, featuring as the opening race of the year on the IAAF World Athletics Tour from 2005 to 2009. It was the first race of the IAAF World Challenge series from 2010 through 2016. The event was also one of the foremost meets of the Australian Athletics Tour, along with the Sydney Track Classic. In 2023, the meet was upgraded and reimagined as the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne, held in memory of the athletics luminary as World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Level meet and part of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series. Plant was known as one of the driving forces in the development and promotion of athletics in Australia. He was a meet promoter and athlete agent as well as strong supporter of the athletes. Plant was not without controversy, however, having asked heptathlete Jane Flemming to provide a substitute urine sample for the javelin thrower Sue Howland, fearing Howland would test positive to an anabolic steroid at the Ulster Games in Belfast on 30 June 1986.
The Melbourne Track Classic featured many high level performances including continental Oceanian records by Tim Forsyth in the men's high jump, Nathan Deakes in the men's 5000 metre walk, Scott Martin in the shot put, Lisa Corrigan in the mile run and Bronwyn Thompson in the women's long jump. National records have also been set at the meeting by New Zealand and Australia's athletes.

Editions

TitleVenueDateStatus
Alcoa Challenge Series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park17 January 1980
Alcoa Challenge Series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park15 January 1981
Alcoa Challenge Series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park14 January 1982
International MeetMelbourne Olympic Park27 January 1983
International MeetMelbourne Olympic Park18 January 1984
6 March 1984
International MeetMelbourne Olympic Park21 March 1985
International MeetMelbourne Olympic Park20 March 1986
1987
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park17 March 1988
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park9 March 1989
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park8 February 1990
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park7 February 1991
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park25 February 1992
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park25 February 1993
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park24 February 1994
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park23 February 1995
NEC ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park29 February 1996IAAF Grand Prix II
Nike Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park20 February 1997IAAF Grand Prix II
Melbourne Track TourMelbourne Olympic Park25 February 1998IAAF Grand Prix II
Melbourne Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park25 February 1999IAAF Grand Prix II
Melbourne Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park2 March 2000IAAF Grand Prix II
Telstra Melbourne Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park1 March 2001IAAF Grand Prix Final
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park7 March 2002IAAF Grand Prix II
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park1 March 2003IAAF Grand Prix II
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park12 February 2004IAAF Grand Prix II
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park17 February 2005IAAF Grand Prix II
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park9 March 2006IAAF Grand Prix
Telstra A-series - MelbourneMelbourne Olympic Park2 March 2007IAAF Grand Prix
Melbourne Athletic Grand PrixMelbourne Olympic Park21 February 2008IAAF Grand Prix
Melbourne GP Series MeetMelbourne Olympic Park5 March 2009IAAF Grand Prix
IAAF Melbourne Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park4 March 2010IAAF World Challenge
IAAF Melbourne Track ClassicMelbourne Olympic Park3 March 2011IAAF World Challenge
Qantas Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium2-3 March 2012IAAF World Challenge
Qantas Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium6 April 2013IAAF World Challenge
IAAF Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium22 March 2014IAAF World Challenge
IAAF Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium21 March 2015IAAF World Challenge
Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium5 March 2016IAAF World Challenge
not held2017
not held2018
not held2019
Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium6 February 2020
Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium25 February 2021
Melbourne Track ClassicLakeside Stadium19 March 2022Area Permit
Maurie Plant MeetLakeside Stadium23 February 2023Continental Tour Gold
2024 Maurie Plant MeetLakeside Stadium15 February 2024Continental Tour Gold
2025 Maurie Plant MeetLakeside Stadium29 March 2025Continental Tour Gold

Meeting records

Men

EventRecordAthleteNationalityDate
100 m10.04Asafa PowellJamaica

Women

EventRecordAthleteNationalityDateMeet
100 m11.01Marion JonesUnited States