Eight athletes from Christchurch will compete at the annual Otago secondary schools championships at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
Six of the athletes are attending Otago schools and the other two will be travelling from Christchurch for the event.
"We will welcome the athletes from Canterbury with open arms to our meet. There is no meeting for them in Christchurch," Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association director Des Smith said.
"These are exceptional circumstances and we are happy to give them the opportunity to compete."
The annual Canterbury schools athletics championships have been cancelled because of the earthquake.
The QE2 arena, where athletics is held in Christchurch, has been red-stickered after the earthquake and will be out of action for a long time.
Jack Henry, the head boy of Shirley Boys' High School, will be travelling down from Christchurch for the meeting.
Shirley Boys' is one of the Canterbury schools that has been badly affected by the earthquake.
Henry is travelling to Dunedin with fellow pupil Jade Plenter and will compete in the senior boys 110m and 300m hurdles.
Two other Shirley Boys' pupils, brothers Eugene and Josh Campbell, are studying at Kavanagh College and will compete in the middle-distance events.
Cashmere High School pupil Caleb Ellis is studying at Blue Mountain College and will contest the boys under-15 throwing events.
Christ's College pupil James Kean is studying at St Kevin's College and will compete in the middle-distance events.
Maddy Spence (Rangi Ruru) and Hilary Harper (St Andrew's) are both studying at Columba College.
There are 670 athletes competing at the championships, which is the largest number at the annual Otago secondary schools championships this century.
Because of the large number of athletes competing, some events will be held on Friday night, and Saturday's programme will start at 8.45am and continue until 5.45pm.
