Sprinter Millar could miss spot for Games

Kiwi sprinter Joseph Millar is in danger of missing out on qualifying for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.

Millar is racing in the Athletics ACT Championships in Canberra this weekend and New Zealand’s team for the Gold Coast will be announced next Friday.

The 25-year-old from Tauranga needs to at least clock another B standard time of 20.44sec in the 200m to be considered for nomination for the Commonwealth Games.

Millar won a 200m trial in 20.68sec in the Capital Classic at Whanganui’s Cooks Gardens last Saturday, but his time was 0.24sec outside the qualifying mark and he was hindered by an unfair tail wind after officials changed the track configuration to spare athletes from storming into a head wind.

The event, which doubled as a Commonwealth Games trial, was supposed to be held in Wellington but had to be relocated - just days before the meet was held - due to delays in laying a new track at the capital’s Newtown Park.

Millar also won the 100m event in Whanganui but with a disappointing time of 11.25sec.

Hastings hosts the Potts Classic today, which represents potentially the last chance for Kiwi athletes to push for qualification for the Gold Coast.

The 200m event in Canberra that Millar is lined up for takes place today and the finals start from 8.45pm NZT).

Millar will also take part in the 100m in Australia’s capital on Friday but is only planning to race in the 200m on the Gold Coast, which runs from April 4-15.

His personal best time of 20.37sec at last year’s national track and field championships at Hamilton’s Porritt Stadium - which broke Chris Donaldson’s 20-year New Zealand 200m record - secured qualification for the World Championships in London last August.

Millar couldn’t progress past the heats in London after finishing 33rd and 39th in the 100m and 200m respectively.

And he needs another B or A standard time if he wants to compete at the Commonwealth Games.

Last year was Millar’s best to date after his brush with sprint king Usain Bolt during the Nitro Series in Melbourne in February.

He then breezed to New Zealand’s 100m and 200m titles with personal bests (10.18sec and 20.37sec) and completed the same double at the Australian national championships in April.