Millar regains NZ 100m title

New Zealand’s fastest man Joseph Millar won his fourth national 100m title but fell agonisingly short of the qualifying time for the World Championships in London in August.

The Tauranga sprinter regained the title he last held in 2014 with a personal best of 10.18s at Porritt Stadium on day one of the national track and field championships in Hamilton on Friday.

Millar, 24, also smashed the New Zealand resident record of 10.27s – set by Chris Donaldson in 1999 – but finished 0.06s shy of the IAAF’s A standard of 10.12s that guarantees selection for the World Championships.

It’s not over, though, and Millar has until July 23 to beat the required time.

New Zealand’s 100m record set by Augustine Nketia in 1994 is 10.11s, under threat given Millar’s recent form. The world’s fastest Kiwi rubbed shoulders with sprint king Usain Bolt in Melbourne last month and finished second behind the Jamaican at Lakeside Stadium.

Millar first won New Zealand’s 100m title in 2012 and held the crown until 2014, but Kodi Harman and Matthew Wyatt were winners in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

After qualifying in 10.75s, Millar cruised to victory ahead of 2015 champion Harman, who finished second with 10.59s, and Hamilton hurdler Cameron French in third, 10.72s.

Millar also beat his personal best of 20.68s in the 200m in Canberra last week, and he races that event on Sunday needing to beat 20.44s to finish inside the world championships qualifying time.

In the women’s 100m final, Auckland’s Zoe Hobbs won her first national title in her first year at senior level, clocking 11.89s to beat Rochelle Coster (12.10s) and Kelsey Berryman (12.15).