Record haul bodes well for Paris
Kerr and Beamish confirm status as medal contenders with indoor gold
The fields may have been weakened but New Zealand’s record haul at the world indoor championships bodes well for the Paris Olympics in five months.
Hamish Kerr enjoyed the finest day of his athletics career on Monday, shattering the New Zealand record, equalling the Oceania record and clearing a world leading height of 2.36m to strike high jump gold.
Geordie Beamish ran a personal best 3m 36.54s to earn a breakthrough world title, taking gold in the 1500m.
Their golds followed the silvers won by shot putter Tom Walsh and pole vaulter Eliza McCartney — the first time New Zealand has won four medals at the biennial event.
Kerr added to the history he made at Birmingham in 2022 when he became the first New Zealand male to win Commonwealth Games gold in the high jump.
In the past year, Kerr made a significant coaching change, transitioning from long-time mentor Terry Lomax, who was contemplating retirement. Now coached by James Sandilands, the switch has delivered rewards.
Beamish won his breakthrough world title “from the depths of hell” with a massive finishing kick. The young Hawke’s Bay athlete edged Americans Cole Hocker and Hobbs Kessler for gold.
And it was not even his specialist event — Beamish is targeting the 3000m steeplechase at the Paris Olympics after finishing fifth at last year’s world championships.
The race, not televised in New Zealand, was described by World Athletics as a “scintillating final lap”, with Beamish winning the race “from the depths of hell”.
Beamish displayed a characteristic kick, seventh or eighth with about a lap to go and then fifth around the final turn, having sat 10th for most of the race. His sprint finish was all leg power as he pipped the two Americans.
“It has taken a bit to sink in,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I’m in total shock.
“To run mid-pack was the plan from Ritz [Dathan Ritzenhein, Beamish’s coach], as we kind of decided being at the back of the field was too far back to kick from.
“I was behind the American Cole Hocker and I felt like he was one of the favourites, so I just stuck behind him and found myself feeling good with a couple of laps to go.
“At the bell, I thought there was a chance of a medal, any medal, and I didn’t care what colour. Not until 15-20m to go did I think that any medal was going to turn into gold. It was a blanket finish and I thought, if I get a medal, it might as well be first.”
On his goals for the rest of the year, he said: “I’m mostly focused on enjoying this one and we’ll look to the rest of the season in the coming weeks. I imagine it doesn’t change much. It’s just an incredible result for the indoor season. I’m really proud to have brought home a gold medal for New Zealand.”
Hastings runner-turned-coach Richard Potts, who has held the New Zealand secondary schools championship senior boys’ 1500m record for 35 years, stopped on the side of the road to catch the race “live” and said Beamish ran the “tactically perfect race.”
“He timed it very well,” he said. Son of Simon and Josi Beamish, of Havelock North, and a former pupil of Hereworth School and Whanganui Collegiate, Beamish’s time was just one-hundredth of a second outside his outdoors personal best for the distance, at which New Zealand already has a strong Olympics contender in Bay of Plenty runner Sam Tanner.
Beamish followed older brother Hugo into a career in college athletics in the United States.
Hugo Beamish said his brother’s win was “pretty cool”.
“He will be the first to say, this time he got in the right spot to kick from,” he said. “Kicking for first instead of third or fourth.
“I’m very happy for him, a tough few years battling injuries, which is mentally very challenging. It’s good timing for the Olympics and also helps the case for continuing to be a professional athlete.”
Four medals placed New Zealand third on the medal table in Glasgow, headed only by the United States and Belgium.