Life in the frustrated lane
Eddie Osei-Nketia – New Zealand’s fastest man – speaks of his pain watching from home, as slower sprinters raced for medals in Birmingham.
Hurt and disillusioned, the fastest man to ever run for New Zealand is contemplating what next after missing out on selection for the Commonwealth Games.
Eddie Osei-Nketia broke his dad Gus’s national 100m record at the world athletics championships in Oregon in July, but it was too late to make the NZ team for the Commonwealth Games.
Many argue he should have been selected for Birmingham before then, and that qualifying times set by Athletics New Zealand – based on the NZOC’s criteria of top 6 capability – are unreasonable, especially when it comes to the glamour track events that have considerably more depth than some field events.
The 21-year-old told Stuff from his base in Canberra that it was a ‘‘hurtful experience seeing people who are slower than you compete while you’re watching on TV’’.
‘‘It’s crazy, I ran a national record, and the Commonwealth Games has less people competing compared to the world championship. I felt like I should’ve at least had the opportunity to run, as well as Tiaan Whelpton, Georgia Hulls and Rosie Elliott. So many young athletes that deserve to go. How come I didn’t get a chance to expand on those experiences from worlds and make me better for other games?’’
Osei-Nketia needed at least two B-standard qualifying times but only posted one (10.12sec) before the cut-off.
His 10.08 New Zealand record at the world championships was too late (interestingly, that time would have won silver in the men’s 100m at the past six Commonwealth Games), though former New Zealand marathon runner Tony Payne, who now races for Thailand, said other countries had much later selection deadlines.
‘‘The New Zealand deadline was May 1, where Australia for example was June 12. This didn’t allow NZ athletes to compete in the Europe summer season to obtain standards. This was completely unfair, especially during a pandemic when New Zealanders were not allowed to leave NZ and return freely during the quarantine period.
‘‘In addition, you want an athlete to be peaking at the championship, not months beforehand. The deadline makes zero sense from a performance perspective.’’
As it transpired, New Zealand took only 17 athletes to Birmingham when their quota was 18.
‘‘It feels like they’re not even putting in the effort to fill those spots; in fact it feels like they are gate-keeping and only taking medal chances, but then if you look at some selections they are not medal chances,’’ said Whelpton, the New Zealand resident record holder over 100m who ran a wind-assisted 10.09 over summer but has since struggled with a hamstring injury.
‘‘It’s a bit silly really, it’s already hard enough as it is, especially in an event like the 100m.’’
Osei-Nketia – like his coach Gary Henley-Smith – just wants what he feels are ‘‘reasonable qualifying standards’’. ‘‘It feels like instead of being open-minded and taking all the factors into account, they’re just shutting us down and looking only at numbers.’’
Both Osei-Nketia and Whelpton say tough qualifying times are fine, but there is no allowance for factors such as the conditions they race in or competition they race against in New Zealand, or the likely level of competition at meets such as the Commonwealth Games being significantly reduced.
‘‘Those A and B qualifying times, you can get those times in Diamond League meets in Europe and America but it’s so hard to get those times in New Zealand,’’ said OseiNketia, who beat Ferdinand Omanyala during the heats at the world championships then watched as the Kenyan went onto win the Commonwealth gold medal.
Whelpton, himself only 22, added: ‘‘I agree that wearing that singlet is an honour that should be earned, but we’re not asking for handouts, we simply want fairness. If there’s athletes that are good enough to be there, they should be there.
As Whelpton notes, it’s a chicken and egg scenario. Big performances come at big meets. However, they can’t get selected to go to those big meets, because they’re not posting the tough qualifying times in trying home conditions. If they attended these big meets, they’d likely go much quicker.
Case in point is Osei-Nketia.
‘‘Up until the world champs in Eugene, Eddie’s season best was a 10.19 yet he managed to smash that over there,’’ Whelpton said.
‘‘The effects of our tough conditions are never taken into consideration. For example, earlier this year I ran 10.43 into a massive headwind, and two weeks later I ran 10.09 with a tail wind that was over the limit. In the entire domestic season only one of my races had a legal tailwind, and in that race I ran the resident record.’’
While not wanting preferential treatment, Osei-Nketia and Whelpton believe the depth and prestige of an event should be factored into qualifying criteria.
There were 10 heats for the men’s 100m in Birmingham, more than 70 starters, compared to, say, the women’s javelin, where there were eight – much easier to gain a top-6 finish. ‘‘It’s a bit silly really, it’s already hard enough as it is, especially in an event like the 100m, which has by far the most depth,’’ said Whelpton, who felt it was senseless that top-6 finishes were equally valued across all events.
Payne added: ‘‘Eddie would be hyped as a medal contender. He should have been at Tokyo 2020, and he should have been in Birmingham 2022. The nation would have stopped to watch him run for a historic Commonwealth Games medal.’’
Whelpton said Zoe Hobbs ‘‘did a great job proving how inspiring it can be for young athletes’’.
Hobbs, who finished sixth in the women’s 100m final in Birmingham, was selected for the Games after only posting one B-standard (11.15sec in Hastings in February), but ‘‘extenuating circumstances’’ – world-class 60m indoor times and a windy 11.07sec at nationals – were deemed enough.
She did not disappoint, reaching the final and coming within 0.01 sec of her Oceania record (11.08sec) in her heat a week after being struck down with Covid-19.
Despite ‘‘only’’ finishing sixth, stories about Hobbs were among the most read Games content on Stuff, more so than some medal-winning performances in other sports or athletic events, highlighting the huge interest and appeal in 100m sprinting among the public.
‘‘The 100m is the cream of the crop in the athletics world,’’ said Whelpton. ‘‘It’s the highlight event, the most watched and the most talked about. Naturally this means it’s also the most competitive.
‘‘Imagine how cool it would’ve been to see both male and female Kiwis in the 100m finals, imagine how many children would be inspired, how many people would be talking about it. Almost every Commonwealth country featured in the men’s 100m except New Zealand, and it’s not that we don’t have good sprinters, they just weren’t sent, and that’s a shame.
‘‘All the NZOC seems to care about is medals, but does this reflect what is truly important? And does this reflect what the public cares about? The public might have an entirely different perception of what they consider to be successful compared to the NZOC. The sport is about athletes, not medals. It’s the athletes they should be fighting for.’’
Payne said the qualifying standards are flawed and make ‘‘no sense’’.
‘‘ANZ say the standards are based on ‘statistics’, however, they are based on the world rankings and with the built-in false premise that everyone will show up to the games. Many top athletes do not. So the standards in events that are truly competitive are far too hard.
‘‘Another example is the 10,000m and the marathon, top athletes do not compete. However, the New Zealand A standard for both events is faster than the New Zealand record and for the marathon the Commonwealth Games record.
‘‘Yet we do not send our sprinters [or other athletes in stronger events such as the 800m or the marathon]. We choose to send the athletes in weaker events, where top six is far more attainable.
‘‘If we send James Preston and Brad Mathas, New Zealand likely has two athletes in the 800m final.’’
He agrees the best times are set at the big meets but New Zealand’s top sprinters can’t get to them. When they do, like Osei-Nketia and Hobbs have, they shine. But the system is geared toward them not getting to these events.
‘‘The heart of the problem lies with the NZOC,’’ Payne says.
‘‘Top six should not apply to the 100m, 1500m etc. Selections are biased towards sports no-one does. To be frank, the walk and throws, bowls, 3x3 basketball, etc. On this basis, should the All Whites bother going to the World Cup? They will never finish top six.
‘‘Top 16 [or top six] should not apply for sports that people participate in on a global scale. See the woods from the trees NZOC – and please, Athletics New Zealand, fight for our athletes to change the system.
‘‘A blanket top 16 [Olympics] or top six [Commonwealth Games] selection policy across all sports is weak. Top 16, top six standards should also not be applied within track and field itself too. There should be exercisable discretion towards the harder events. No offence to those who participate in throws, walks etc but the 100m is way harder.
‘‘Let’s not forget, World Athletics invited both Hobbs and Osei-Nketia to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 100m. One of the most watched sporting events on the planet. Those invitations were thrown into the rubbish bin and both are not Olympians.
‘‘Income and endorsement deals lost. Imagine what that does to your mental health? I personally know people who have quit the sport, or suffered depression from the ruthlessness of the standards set by Athletics NZ and the NZOC.’’
Athletics NZ does not have immediate plans to change the qualifying criteria, which it admits is ‘‘incredibly tough’’ and ‘‘quite statistical’’, and is based on the NZOC’s top-six expectations.
Osei-Nketia wants to go to the Paris Olympics but needs to think about how he can get there.
‘‘I’m so miserable right now, it feels like opportunities get cut compared to Australia where they get these opportunities and experiences to compete.’’
While he wouldn’t consider running for Australia ‘‘at the moment’’, running for New Zealand is ‘‘very tough right now and not what I thought it would be like’’.
‘‘I really wanted to go to England. It really hurts and I feel like my future is blind until I figure out what to do next. I don’t want to go into another season with false hope and then the same things happen.’’
Whelpton says: ‘‘Eddie’s the fastest we’ve ever had. The fact these thoughts have crossed his mind is just silly and so unnecessary.’’
‘‘I’m so miserable right now, it feels like opportunities get cut compared to Australia where they get these opportunities and experiences to compete.’’
Eddie Osei-Nketia, left
‘‘I agree that wearing that singlet is an honour that should be earned, but we’re not asking for handouts, we simply want fairness.’’
Tiaan Whelpton, right