Athletics body reels at clash of dates for top transtasman events

Athletics New Zealand’s ambitions to hold a stellar national championships in Olympic year have been dealt a Kangaroo-sized kick from across the Tasman.

The national champs are in Dunedin from March 4-6. They advised interested parties, including Athletics Australia (AA), of the dates in March. It is an Olympic qualifying event for Rio next year. This week they were advised by AA that they are holding their Melbourne world challenge on March 5.

That is an invitation-only event, but there’s every likelihood New Zealand’s highest profile athletes, such as shot putters Val Adams and Tom Walsh, middle distance runners Nick Willis, Angie Petty and Nikki Hamblin and long distance runner Zane Robertson could get a shoulder tap. That would do no favours to Athletics New Zealand’s (ANZ) hopes of hosting a marquee event.

ANZ chief executive Linda Hammersley admitted dismay and disappointment at hearing the news. It came in a cursory phone call from AA in the manner of a “done deal” date.

“What I don’t know is the background as to why they have to have it on that date,” Hammersley said yesterday. “It’s an IAAF event and it may be they had no choice but to schedule it on that date for international reasons.”

Hammersley knows the top athletes will want to chase the best event.

“The ones who are struggling to get a qualifying time may not get an invitation to Melbourne anyway. Naturally being our national champs we would like our superstars to be there. But we do understand, particularly in an Olympic year, it’s very important for them to get the right competition.”

It won’t be until the invitations are issued that ANZ will get to see the full scale of the loss for the nationals.