Rising stars arrive for Capital Classic
If you’re keeping pace with an Olympic bronze medallist at age 17 you know your athletics career is going reasonably well.
Auckland teenager Olivia McTaggart is one of several drawcards at the annual Capital Classic at Wellington’s Newtown Park on Friday night, headlined by the national 3000m championships.
McTaggart is matching Eliza McCartney’s rapid rise into the record books, and equalled the Rio bronze medallist’s national secondary schools mark of 4.10m in December.
The previous month her vault of 4.22m smashed McCartney’s national under-17 record by 11cm.
Rio Paralympics gold medallist Anna Grimaldi is in the women’s long jump field, four months after her dramatic final leap of 5.26m in the T47 category.
Jacko Gill was entered in the men’s shot put but is understood to have withdrawn due to a bereavement.
Two other Rio Olympians headline their respective events, with Angie Petty contesting the women’s 800m and Hamish Carson returning to the scene of many victories in a big field for the men’s 3000m.
Carson has the fastest time of the 43 entered at 7:49.24, and won the title in 2011 and 2015.
Fellow 1500m specialist Eric Speakman will also fancy his chances after some excellent races over the last 12 months, just missing the qualifying time for Rio. He has a best over 3000m of 7:58.85 in Ireland in June last year.
Other leading contenders are Aaron Pulford, a three-time 10,000m champion with a best of 8:08.29, and Daniel Balchin the national road champion and 2014 winner who has run 8:09.09.
The men’s event has been split into two races to reduce the potential for falls, given the large number of entries.
Olivia Burne and Laura Nagel will be the ones to watch in a small field in the women’s 3000m despite neither having recent track titles to their names. Nagel has the faster time over 3000m at 9:01.35 set in 2014 in the US and is the current NZ cross country and 10km road champion.
Burne has a best time of 9:18.90 also set in the States in 2014 and is the national half-marathon champion.
The programme begins at 5pm, with the women’s 3000m at 7pm and the men at 7.40pm.