The event was named in commemoration of Australian athletics organiser and manager, Maurie Plant, who worked with Olympic gold medallists Cathy Freeman, Sally Pearson and Steve Hooker.

Previously known as the Melbourne Track Classic, the Meet was broadcast via 7Plus and internationally to over 150 countries and was the first ever World Athletics Continental Tour – Gold level event in the Oceania region.

Homegrown cult hero Rohan Browning took on the fastest man on the planet American Fred Kerley in the 200-metres. The superstar American showed his class comfortably winning the race.

Other local standouts included middle-distance specialist Oliver Hoare who took home the victory in the John Landy Mile race and ran the third fastest time for an Australian on home soil to boot.

Olympians Abbey Caldwell and Jessica Hull battled it out in the 1500 metres, with Hull, the fastest Australian ever over the distance coming out on top.

Off the track, Athletics Australia delivered a comprehensive sport development and community engagement program including a coaches’ forum, technical official mentoring and an education workshop for young Victorian athletes hosted by Sally Pearson.

The Victorian Government is proud to back events like the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne through the Significant Sporting Events Program, which provide the perfect springboard for Australia’s sporting stars to take their performance to the next level on home soil.

Events like this help to establish Melbourne and Victoria as a premier destination for hosting international sport and major events and provide important capacity building opportunities leading up to the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.