Men’s sprinters miss out on Games
New Zealand top men’s sprint stars Eddie Osei-Nketia and Tiaan Whelpton are both exceedingly quick over 100 metres – just not swift enough to get themselves on to the team for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Neither the Canberra-based OseiNketia nor Canterbury’s Whelpton – fast-rising prospects of the sport – made the cut for the New Zealand athletics squad of 18 that will head to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (July 28-Aug 8), and Athletics NZ high performance boss Scott Newman explained it was a cut-and-dried omission based on qualifying times.
Osei-Nketia has posted one Commonwealth Games B standard (10.12sec), but required at least two to make the team for Birmingham. And Whelpton, who injured his hamstring in the national 100m final earlier this year, has not dipped under the mark even once.
‘‘You could look at it and say ‘why aren’t they there?’ But they just haven’t run fast enough this summer,’’ Newman said. ‘‘It’s so tough – top six in the Commonwealth (essentially how the B standard is arrived at) is a tough criteria in men’s sprints compared to other events where the depth isn’t quite so strong.’’
The 21-year-old Osei-Nketia was the closest to punching his ticket for Birmingham, after already being named conditionally to run the 100m at the world championships in Oregon that precede the Commonwealth Games. He ran 10.12sec in Brisbane in March of 2021, but his next best performance over the qualifying period was the 10.19sec posted in Adelaide earlier this year.
‘‘There were no extenuating circumstances that could get him nominated on that basis,’’ said Newman who discounted the fact that 10.19sec was good enough to win the bronze at the Gold Coast in 2018 as irrelevant. ‘‘He couldn’t be nominated under the criteria, which required him to do 10.12 or quicker twice to be eligible.
‘‘Tiaan didn’t have a qualifying performance, and couldn’t be nominated. There was no argument that could be built for him.’’
Eagle-eyed types might have spotted that women’s 100m ace Zoe Hobbs gained inclusion for Birmingham while herself only posting one
B-standard (11.15sec in Hastings in February). But Newman said the ‘‘extenuating circumstances’’ clause worked in her favour, with her worldclass 60m indoors times and a windy 11.07sec from the nationals ticking those boxes.
It was a similar story for 5000m runner Geordie Beamish, while the conditionally selected athletes for Birmingham (Keeley O’Hagan, Sam Tanner and Eric Speakman) also had just the single Bmark, with more evidence required.
Whelpton, 22, had posted an eyecatching 10.09sec at the Potts Classic in Hastings earlier this year, but it had been over the wind limit and was a non-counter. He went on to run his
PB of 10.18sec in the final at the same meet, but did not come close to bettering it over the rest of the summer.
Osei-Nketia’s selection for the world championships comes under different selection criteria, explained Newman – but still requires him to fall within the rankings cutoff of 48 at the end of the selection period on June 26.
He currently sits at 41 on the Road to Oregon list (which factors out athletes from nations that have already qualified their three athletes), while Whelpton is well back at 61st.
‘‘Eddie has been able to be selected because we’ve got different criteria for the worlds, and because of his age,’’ added Newman. ‘‘ We have a clause that allows him to be selected on the basis of being ranked inside the top 40, but because he’s under-23 it’s effectively a development-type selection. But he could still drop out if he doesn’t maintain his ranking.’’
Newman admitted it was tough on the promising Kiwi sprinters because the standard in the Commonwealth is so high, with nations such as Jamaica, Ghana, Nigeria, Canada, Australia and England all producing world-class 100m runners.
‘‘If you look at world rankings for 100m basically the Commonwealth countries dominate, other than the US.’’
But the Athletics NZ high performance boss said both OseiNketia and Whelpton had time on their side, and should look to Hobbs for inspiration.
The Aucklander missed the cut for Tokyo under similar circumstances, but has bounced back brilliantly to lower the national 100m mark three times over a golden summer, came within a whisker of making the 60m final at the world indoors and will head to both Oregon and Birmingham this year as a hot prospect to advance beyond the heats.
‘‘Zoe had an outstanding summer and has gone to that next level. We hope Tiaan and Eddie can now do the same thing – and it’s bloody close.’’
The New Zealand team for Birmingham, including three athletes conditionally selected, is dominated by the field events, with three women’s hammer throwers, two women’s pole vaulters and two men’s shot put exponents among the group.
High jumper Keeley O’Hagan and middle-distance men Sam Tanner and Eric Speakman will have to meet targets to confirm their spots.
Shot put ace Tom Walsh and hammer thrower Julia Ratcliffe are defending champions in their events, while Hamish Kerr (high jump), Maddie Weshe (shot put), Lauren Bruce (hammer) and Olivia McTaggart (pole vault) are also considered medal prospects.
‘‘They just haven’t run fast enough this summer.’’
Scott Newman
Athletics NZ high performance boss