History made on day one of UniSport Nationals Athletics 2026

History made on day one of UniSport Nationals Athletics 2026

A record number of over 500 student-athletes descended on the Gold Coast Performance Centre on Wednesday 22 April for the opening day of the 2026 UniSport Nationals Athletics Championships and they wasted no time making their mark.

The day began with a Welcome to Country from Uncle John, Komburri Man, who set a fitting tone for an event celebrating community, culture and competition at the highest level of university sport in Australia.

With field events and track heats filling the afternoon and a packed evening programme of finals, the atmosphere built steadily toward a spectacular close. The day’s final event, the 4x400m mixed relay brought the crowd to its feet, with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) crossing the line in a championship record time of 3:31.35 to claim gold ahead of the University of Sydney (USYD) and Western Sydney University.

It was one of six championship records to fall on the day:

• Aiden Princena-White (UTS) soared to 5.25m in the men’s pole vault, surpassing the previous mark he achieved as a UniRoo at the World Summer Games.
• Georgia Tayler (Deakin University) broke the women’s pole vault record with a clearance of 4.15m.
• Ori Drabkin (La Trobe University, T37) set a new record in the men’s 100m Para final, clocking 13:38w.
• Amy Tobin (Deakin University, T71) claimed the women’s 400m Para record with a time of 3:27.96.
• Sarah Clifton-Bligh (USYD, T33) had an extraordinary day, setting two championship records, clocking 6:59.93 in the women’s 1500m Para for the first time in the event and breaking 25.86 in the women’s 100m Para.

Adding to the occasion, the broadcast was brought to life by 34 students from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) School of Creative Arts, Film, Screen and Animation in partnership with QUT Sport, delivering a world-class production on UniSportTV. The team will be back for day two and day three to continue the live coverage.

With two days of competition remaining, the stage is set for more standout performances across the sprints, middle-distance events, throws and jumps.

Catch all the action, including a full replay of day one’s action, free on UniSportTV as university athletes continue their pursuit of gold and glory on the Gold Coast.

Click here for a link to the full results from today.