Double gold and exciting countback for Kiwis
The final day of the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday (NZT) was a golden one for New Zealand athletics that ended with two world titles.
Both new title holders, Geordie Beamish and Hamish Kerr, have a background of involvement in athletics in ManawatūWhanganui.
Beamish, the 1500m gold medallist, grew up in Hawke’s Bay and was educated in Whanganui, where he came under the influence of Alec McNab, who coached him until he took up an American athletics scholarship.
He has remained loyal to Athletics Whanganui, retaining his Athletics
New Zealand membership with it, and representing Manawatū-Whanganui when competing in New Zealand championships.
Kerr, the high jump champion, spent three years as a member of the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club when he was a Massey University student.
Coach Anne Thomson played a significant role in nursing him back to the sport after injury concerns, before he moved down to Christchurch.
It can be interesting to follow the countback used to determine placings in distance measured events. This was the case in the women’s pole vault final on Sunday, given changes in the leading position.
With the bar at 4.75m, New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney grabbed the lead with a first-attempt clearance, the only competitor to achieve this. However, she was matched by three others who remained in the competition.
Then, with the bar rising to 4.8m, only
Mollie Caudery of England and McCartney had successful clearances.
Caudery’s clearance was on her second attempt, whereas McCartney needed another go.
This meant an advantage to Caudery on the countback, and McCartney needed a better clearance at the next height.
McCartney put the pressure back on Caudery by passing at the next height they were to attempt.
With Caudery failing at this height, McCartney had two attempts at taking the competition if she could clear 4.9m. She came away with the silver medal.
It was interesting seeing both Caudery and McCartney share the same coach, Scott Simpson.
Also on Sunday, sprinter Zoe Hobbs continued to show that she is capable of footing it with the world’s best by finishing fourth in the 60m.
I got the impression that the 60m is a bit short for her, because she was gaining on the leaders as they crossed the line.
One of the challenges sprinters have to overcome is stopping by crashing into jump pads attached to the walls at the end of the race. I remember seeing some indoor races many years ago in Napier, where the setup is nowhere near as sophisticated as at a world championships, and some of the athletes disappeared into the crash pads.
In a change this year, Feilding High School will host the Manawatū secondary school athletics championships tomorrow at the Manawatū Community Athletics Track.
It will be the first time the championships have not been on a Saturday.
There has been concern that the change of day could mean a number of experienced officials will not be available, but organisers are confident they can cope.
This year’s event is being used as a trial for the suitability of the change.