New Zealand’s major medal hopes
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, New Zealand won 14 gold medals. Can they claim more on the Gold Coast? Ian Anderson outlines where NZ’S best chances of success lie.
Tom Walsh: The Olympic bronze medallist is in top form and is cleary the best putter in the Commonwealth by some distance, meaning the likes of O’dayne Richards (Jamaica) and Tim Nedow (Canada) should be fighting among themselves for the major medals.
Valerie Adams: Can the twotime Olympic champion be good enough to win gold six months after giving birth to her first child? It could prove too tough a task if she runs into an in-form Danniel Thomas-dodd of Jamaica, who threw 19.22m to win silver at the world indoor champs in Birmingham this year, with Adams still short of her best in lead-up events.
Eliza Mccartney: The 21-yearold appears to be peaking nicely for the Games. She soared over 4.90m for the first time in the Vertical Pursuit pole vault competition at Auckland’s Skycity
this month. BUT competiton in the women’s pole vaults has come on in, um, leaps and bounds since Glasgow four years and the Kiwi will be challenged by England’s Holly Bradshaw, Canadians Alysha Newman and Anicka Newell and Aussies Nina Kennedy and Lisa Campbell. Black Sticks (women):
Ranked second in the Commonwealth standings behind England and ahead of Australia, the NZ women’s hockey team will be desperate to go one better than their ranking after collecting silver medals at Delhi 2010 and bronzes in Glasgow 2014. The Kiwis are drawn in the same pool as the hosts. ‘‘We know all teams will arrive well-prepared at the Commonwealth Games and we certainly aren’t taking anything for granted, but our expectations on ourselves are very high,’’ coach Mark Hager said.
Track cyclists: The men’s sprint team couldn’t make the medal round at the recent track world champs, but Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins are genuine contenders for gold at the Games while Rushlee Buchanan’s bronze in the women’s omnium in The Netherlands has elevated her to top-of-the-podium favouritism.
Linda Villumsen: She’s been a constant medalist at world champs level over the past decade, winning gold in 2015, and while she was a little off the pace last year, that came after a long break and the 32-year-old will be hard to beat in her Glasgow gold defence.
Mountain bikers: Sam Gaze will head to the Gold Coast pumped after victory in the opening round of the Mountain Bike World Cup season in South Africa, while Anton Cooper was sixth. The two world-class Kiwis are
the top-ranked riders in the Commonwealth and could repeat their 2014 Glasgow quinella.
Laurel Hubbard: A silver medalist at last year’s world champs in the +90kg category, Hubbard should romp to gold, but it won’t be without controversy. Australian Weightlifting Federation chief executive Mike Keelan recently wrote to the International Weightlifting Federation, questioning the right of transgender athletes to compete on the world stage. He argued the sport had always been ‘‘genderspecific’’ and ‘‘female-born athletes’’ were now being put at a disadvantage by lifters such as Hubbard.
Lawn bowls: New Zealand should be in medal contention in all classes, but particularly in the singles. Jo Edwards won singles gold in Glasgow 2014 and the Brisbane-based bowler has been
practising at the Broadbeach venue, while Shannon Mcilroy won gold at the world champs in 2016 and has also been training and playing on the Gold Coast greens.
David Nyika: After winning gold as an 19-year-old in Glasgow as a light heavyweight, Nyika has suffered some setbacks but gained a ton of top-class experience and will be hard to topple in Queensland. Sporting a new blond hairdo at the Games, Nyika said the jump in weight class had allowed him to fully participate at the breakfast buffet in the athletes’ village. Natalie Rooney: The women’s trap shooter won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. If she can recapture that form she may hold of the host hotshots and other visiting contenders. Rooney missed out on a medal when fourth in Glasgow but has finished in the top 20 at the last three world champs.