The aim of this study was to examine changes in competitive performances over the past 40 years. Data was obtained for the first placed Australian athlete at the National Championships for the 100 m; 400 m; 10,000 m; high jump; long jump and shot put events for both men and women from 1970 to 2012. Data was also recorded from the 56 kg and super heavy weight classes from 1973 to 2012 from the World and Olympic Weightlifting Championships. Data was statistically compared using correlations (performance vs. years) and t-tests (1970`s vs. 2000`s). Ten correlation (r) values were not statistically significant and in all cases were less than 0.5. In most of these instances (6 out of 10) these r values were 0.3 or less. For two events (male 100 m r = -0.55 and male shot put r = 0.66) the r values were statistically significant demonstrating a significant performance improvement over time. For the remaining two events (female high jump r = -0.56 and female shot put r = -0.57) the r values were also statistically significant but demonstrated a significant performance decrease over time, an unexpected result. Nine of the 12 track and field events involved mean increases of less than 4% from the 1970`s to the 2000`s. In most instances this increase occurred primarily in the first decade from the 1970`s to the 1980`s. There was little performance change from the 1980`s to the 2000`s except for the male shot put. It is evident that there has been little improvement in competitive results (time, distance, height or load lifted) over the past 30 years and that overall the application of sport science techniques and technologies have had limited effect on elite competitive performance.
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