Brisbane bundles up for winter WAVA meet

The 14th World Veterans Athletic Championships -- the WAVA world track meet -- will be held July 4-14, 2001, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia -- or winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The last time the world meet was held Down Under, in Melbourne (about 800 miles southwest of Brisbane), the dates were November 29-December 6, 1987. Even so, according to the WAVA Handbook, "more than 4,800 took part . . . despite very bad weather during three (of the) days." But according to climate data, Brisbane (pronounced BRIZ-bin) boasts mild winters. Event organizers appear ready to do anything to make the event a success. At least the air fare should be reasonable that time of year. And lodging appears plentiful.

Check the weather conditions any time. Brisbane City Council's site answers a lot of questions, too.

Jacey Octigan, the event manager in Brisbane, informs us: "We are launching a brand new Web site in March which details everything for athletes, accompanying persons, officials and volunteers. Presently we have only our home page up but it does contain our e-mail details for athletes if they wish to get in contact with us. . . . For your information we have changed our dates to better suit accommodation options for our participants. . . As event organisers, it is imperative that we meet the needs of our athletes and participants to ensure that they are well informed about the Brisbane Championships. We are hoping for strong teams from North America and after meeting such lovely people at the Gateshead Championships from the States and Canada, we look forward to seeing their friendly faces again in Brisbane."

Brisbane has been in the vanguard of women's sports, and we note a hurdler photo on one of its history pages. I can't find a Brisbane daily newspaper online, but The Queensland Independent -- a college newspaper in Brisbane -- offers some snapshots of at least one of the local tracks expected to be used for WAVA (and where the U.S. Olympic team will train in the run-up to Sydney.) The Sydney Morning Herald probably will cover WAVA preparations as well.

Please write me if you see any stories online about the 14th world vets meet.