# 1997–98 Australian Athletics Championships

The 1997–98 Australian Athletics Championships was the 76th edition of the national championship in outdoor track and field for Australia. It was held from 13–15 March 1998 at the Olympic Park Stadium in Melbourne. It served as a selection meeting for Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. The 10,000 metres event took place separately at the Zatopek 10K on 18 December 1997 at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne. The combined track and field events were held at the Hobart Grand Prix from 20–22 February 1998.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (Wind: -3.4 m/s) | Matt Shirvington New South Wales | 10.47 | Deji Aliu Nigeria (NGR) | 10.50 | Paul Henderson New South Wales | 10.68 |
| 200 metres (Wind: -2.0 m/s) | Damien Marsh Queensland | 21.34 | Matt Shirvington New South Wales | 21.37 | Patrick Johnson Australian Capital Territory | 21.42 |
| 400 metres | Declan Stack Western Australia | 45.55 | Patrick Dwyer New South Wales | 46.44 | Jason Schmidberger Western Australia | 46.77 |
| 800 metres | Noah Ngeny Kenya (KEN) | 1:46.85 | Brendan Hanigan Tasmania | 1:47.00 | Grant Cremer New South Wales | 1:47.12 |
| 1500 metres | Martin Keino Kenya (KEN) | 3:40.91 | Hamish Christensen New Zealand (NZL) | 3:41.17 | Holt Hardy New South Wales | 3:41.42 |
| 5000 metres | Shaun Creighton Australian Capital Territory | 13:24.84 | Mizan Mehari Australian Capital Territory | 13:36.81 | Lee Troop Victoria | 13:41.16 |
| 10,000 metres | Luke Kipkosgei Kenya (KEN) | 27:29.44 | Julius Kiptoo Kenya (KEN) | 27:30.04 | Robbie Johnston New Zealand (NZL) | 28:07.80 |
| 110 metres hurdles (Wind: -2.0 m/s) | Kyle Vander-Kuyp Victoria | 14.00 | Kimihiro Asami Japan (JPN) | 14.40 | Manabu Tomita Japan (JPN) | 14.48 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Rohan Robinson Victoria | 49.28 | Zid Abou Hamed New South Wales | 49.79 | Blair Young Queensland | 50.57 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Chris Unthank Victoria | 8:41.88 | Scott Faulkner Victoria | 8:51.13 | Stephen Thurston South Australia | 8:55.41 |
| 5000 metres walk | Nicholas A'Hern New South Wales | 19:12.92 | Dion Russell Victoria | 19:39.62 | Scott Nelson New Zealand (NZL) | 20:11.05 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | New Zealand (NZL) Nick Cowan Chris Donaldson Robert Bruce Mathew Coad | 40.06 | New South Wales (NSW) Paul Henderson Matt Shirvington Kieran Noonan Toluta'u Koula | 40.25 | Western Australia (WA) Sam De Vries Rod Mapstone Robert Colling James Matson | 40.94 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Japan (JPN) Hideaki Kawamura Jun Osakada Yoshiho Terashita Shigekazu Ōmori | 3:08.12 | New South Wales (NSW) Daniel Stolp Kieran Gallagher Matthew Beckenham Robert Medlicott | 3:09.68 | Victoria (VIC) Justin Clark Matthew Griffin Bryce Barnwell Mark Moresi | 3:10.10 |
| High jump | Tim Forsyth Victoria | 2.32 m | Glenn Morante New South WalesLee Jin-taek South Korea (KOR) | 2.10 m | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| Pole vault | Dmitri Markov South Australia | 5.50 m | James Miller Victoria | 5.50 m | Paul Burgess Western Australia | 5.40 m |
| Long jump | Shane Hair New South Wales | 8.09 m (+2.2 m/s) | Jai Taurima Queensland | 7.92 m (+1.4 m/s) | Leigh Stuart Victoria | 7.81 m (+2.2 m/s) |
| Triple jump | Onochie Achike Great Britain (GBR) | 16.79 m (+2.1 m/s) | Andrew Murphy New South Wales | 16.19 m (+2.2 m/s) | Mohd Zaki Sadri Malaysia (MAS) | 15.86 m (+1.7 m/s) |
| Shot put | Justin Anlezark Queensland | 18.73 m | Clay Cross New South Wales | 18.01 m | Aaron Neighbour Victoria | 17.43 m |
| Discus throw | Ian Winchester New Zealand (NZL) | 58.77 m | Gerard Duffy Australian Capital Territory | 53.08 m | Chris Gaviglio Queensland | 51.02 m |
| Hammer throw | Stuart Rendell Australian Capital Territory | 75.15 m | Patrick Hellier New Zealand (NZL) | 66.55 m | Paul Carlin South Australia | 66.54 m |
| Javelin throw | Andrew Currey New South Wales | 78.46 m | Adrian Hatcher New South Wales | 76.86 m | Erin Bevans New Zealand (NZL) | 76.32 m |
| Decathlon | Jagan Hames South Australia | 7868 pts | Leslie Kuorikoski Queensland | 7542 pts | Matthew McEwen Queensland | 7126 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (Wind: -2.7 m/s) | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor New South Wales | 11.34 | Nova Peris-Kneebone Northern Territory | 11.62 | Lauren Hewitt Victoria | 11.68 |
| 200 metres (Wind: -2.2 m/s) | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor New South Wales | 22.53 | Lauren Hewitt Victoria | 23.01 | Nova Peris-Kneebone Northern Territory | 23.17 |
| 400 metres | Cathy Freeman Victoria | 51.26 | Susan Andrews Tasmania | 51.55 | Lee Naylor Victoria | 51.65 |
| 800 metres | Tamsyn Lewis Victoria | 2:02.93 | Lynette Saint-John Tasmania | 2:03.46 | Melanie Collins Australian Capital Territory | 2:04.16 |
| 1500 metres | Liz Miller New South Wales | 4:14.59 | Sandra Dawson Queensland | 4:15.09 | Anna Brzezińska Poland (POL) | 4:15.76 |
| 5000 metres | Anne Cross Victoria | 15:28.73 | Samukeliso Moyo Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 15:46.03 | Kylie Risk Tasmania | 15:46.53 |
| 10,000 metres | Natalie Harvey Victoria | 32:21.58 | Kylie Risk Tasmania | 32:22.33 | Clair Fearnley Victoria | 32:24.17 |
| 100 metres hurdles (Wind: -1.8 m/s) | Debbi Edwards New South Wales | 13.78 | Jacquie Munro New South Wales | 13.81 | Rachel Rogers South Australia | 13.90 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Stephanie Price New South Wales | 58.47 | Evette Cordy Victoria | 58.83 | Nicola Kidd New Zealand (NZL) | 59.75 |
| 5000 metres walk | Kerry Saxby-Junna New South Wales | 21:57.74 | Jane Saville New South Wales | 22:21.79 | Natalie Saville New South Wales | 22:48.54 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | South Australia (SA) Tatiana Grigorieva Tania Van Heer Paula Lehmann Rachel Rogers | 45.60 | New South Wales (NSW) Sharon Gyselhart Nicole Buchanan Victoria Piggin Elona Reinalda | 45.83 | Western Australia (WA) Sharon Sutherland Jodi Lambert Kylie Reed Gill Ragus | 46.05 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Victoria (VIC) Jennifer Marshall Sally Ogilvy Lee Naylor Tamsyn Lewis | 3:38.48 | New South Wales (NSW) Veronica Boyd Kylie Watkins Stephanie Price Rosemary Hayward | 3:38.77 | Tasmania (TAS) Kirilee Buonaccorsi Lynette Saint-John Emily Bell Susan Andrews | DQ |
| High jump | Alison Inverarity Victoria | 1.90 m | Lisa Bruty Victoria | 1.86 m | Kim Brown New Zealand (NZL) | 1.82 m |
| Pole vault | Emma George Victoria | 4.58 m | Tatiana Grigorieva South Australia | 4.15 m | Rachael Dacy Victoria | 3.90 m |
| Long jump | Nicole Boegman New South Wales | 6.81 m (+2.9 m/s) | Chantal Brunner New Zealand (NZL) | 6.65 m (+1.5 m/s) | Jane Jamieson New South Wales | 6.47 m (+1.8 m/s) |
| Triple jump | Connie Henry Great Britain (GBR) | 13.86 m (+0.5 m/s) | Nicole Mladenis Western Australia | 13.51 m (+1.4 m/s) | Mariklud Viduka Victoria | 13.44 m (+3.2 m/s) |
| Shot put | Beatrice Faumuina New Zealand (NZL) | 16.96 m | Helen Toussis Queensland | 15.97 m | Lisa-Marie Vizaniari Queensland | 15.83 m |
| Discus throw | Beatrice Faumuina New Zealand (NZL) | 63.80 m | Lisa-Marie Vizaniari Queensland | 61.41 m | Alison Lever Queensland | 53.90 m |
| Hammer throw | Deborah Sosimenko New South Wales | 66.72 m | Brenda MacNaughton New South Wales | 62.49 m | Karyne Perkins New South Wales | 60.69 m |
| Javelin throw | Louise McPaul New South Wales | 62.34 m | Bina Ramesh France (FRA) | 49.05 m | Cecilia McIntosh Victoria | 45.54 m |
| Heptathlon | Jane Jamieson New South Wales | 5943 pts | Simone Purvis Victoria | 5060 pts | Lisa Kovacs South Australia | 4767 pts |