For a venue which is immortalised in the annals of miling history it was apt that the men’s 1500m signalled the beginning of the end for Melbourne’s Olympic Park on the final day of the 89th Australian championships.

The race started with a few scant rays of sun illuminating lane one of the home straight, and when Jeff Riseley crossed the line to win the final metric mile race with the straight enclosed in shade, it was clear that the end was nigh.

Although Riseley’s run was a consummate championship performance, kicking away from the field in the home straight, it was the action in the hour the followed that provided a fitting farewell to the venue. The performances came in the form of a new personal best from Mitch Watt, setting a stadium record of 8.44m with the final ever leap at Olympic Park; Schoolboy Steven Solomon ushering in a new generation for the sport with a 45.58 second victory in the men’s 400m; Sally Pearson completing a rare triple victory, adding the 200m (23.20s; -1.4 m/s) and 100m hurdles (12.83s; -1.1 m/s) to yesterday’s 100m win; and fittingly, Tamsyn Lewis claiming her 17th national title with victory in the final ever race at the venue, with a 52.31 second victory in the 400m.

Watt was the standout athlete of the meet, with his performance consolidating his claim as Australia’s top long jumper, representing the fourth consecutive competition the Queenslander has sailed over the 8 metre distance. However, despite the success, Watt was clear to distance himself from comments made by Fabrice Lapierre earlier this week that the duo were better athletes than Australian record holder and Olympic silver medallist Jai Taurima.

“I’ve tried to stay away from that,” Watt said.

“On one hand it is good for the sport because it draws attention to us, but I’m happy if he keeps on doing the talking and I keep on jumping like that!

“I certainly wouldn’t go around saying things like that, and I still watch the video [of Taurima at the Sydney Olympics] as it gets the heart racing. Even if I do break the record I’ll still watch the video because it was a great competition.”

Other winners were Aaron Rouge-Serret, who took out the sprint double with a 20.88 second (-1.2 m/s) win in the 200m and Dani Samuels, who threw 61.79m in the discus.

Inside Athletics' comprehensive photographic coverage of the meet will be uploaded in the coming days.