Petty rapt to be off to Rio
Angie Petty was the little girl who dreamed big, once penning a letter declaring her intent to go the Olympics, and sealing it off in a sort of time capsule in the family home in Christchurch.
Petty, now 24, was reminded of her prescient letter when she gathered in Auckland on a sunny Friday at the Millennium track as part of the initial New Zealand athletics squad of 10 named for the Rio Olympics.
Petty is one of six first-time Olympians in the group, alongside Auckland pole vault sensation Eliza McCartney, shot put duo Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill, 1500m runner Nikki Hamblin and 10,00m specialist Zane Robertson. They join 50km race walker Quentin Rew who will be attending his second Games, and veterans shot put queen Val Adams, middledistance star Nick Willis and javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar who will all rack up their fourth appearance.
For Petty, who achieved her qualifying mark of 1:59.06s last year, confirmation of her spot in Rio is especially satisfying after she came agonisingly close to sneaking on to the team for London four years ago.
Just prior to the cutoff for the 2012 Games she posted an ‘‘out-ofthe-blue’’ PB by three seconds that was under the Olympic standard, and just outside the New Zealand A mark. After agonising over it, the selectors left her off the team.
‘‘In a way it was probably a good thing as I wouldn’t have been mentally prepared for it because it was only a week before the cutoff, whereas ever since then I’ve been really aiming for Rio, training really hard just for this moment,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s such a surreal feeling and I’m just so excited. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was very little and to be officially named is amazing and I’m just so grateful.’’
Petty recalls first watching the Olympics around the age of seven, thinking to herself ‘‘ gosh, I want to go there one day ...’’ Then, when she joined her first athletics club, the dream firmed.
‘‘I remember writing a wee letter in our old house, saying I want to go to the Olympics one day, and putting it in an area that was sealed up when we did some alterations. Someone found it few years ago when they moved into the house. I’ve always had that dream, and for my family and everyone who has supported me along the way this is pretty special for us all.’’
And Petty, who was fifth in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and won gold at the world university games a year later, will in no way be satisfied just being in Rio. She is adamant she can reduce that yearold PB down into the 1:58s which would put her on track to make the final.
‘‘I want to go there and do New Zealand proud. It’s what we train hard for every day, really pushing ourselves. I’ve got some pretty big aims. I’ll have to treat each round
Valerie Adams (shot put), Stuart Farquhar (javelin), Jacko Gill (shot put), Nikki Hamblin (1500m), Eliza McCartney (pole vault), Angie Petty (800m), Quentin Rew (50k walk), Zane Robertson (10,000m), Tom Walsh (shot put), Nick Willis (1500m). like a final, and hopefully if I get into that final then anything is possible, and a medal would be the ultimate.’’
Petty will head to Japan next week for a couple of meets and after a month back in New Zealand will travel to Europe for her main buildup.
Fellow Games first-timer McCartney was equally as excited about the prospect of Rio, even though she’s been a certainty to get there since leaping into the nation’s consciousness with an array of world-class vaults over the Kiwi summer.
McCartney finished fifth at the recent world indoor championships after setting a series of national, Oceania and world junior records through an incredible summer. Her best clearance was 4.80m at the nationals in Dunedin, which gives her the fifth best height worldwide in 2016.
‘‘We were aiming for the 2020 Olympics, and to get there in 2016 was always going to be a huge bonus,’’ she said. ‘‘But now it’s looking like it’s going to be an important event for my career, so it’s just so exciting.’’
McCartney revealed when Rio first became a reality early in her breakthrough summer. ‘‘It was at the beginning and we were just testing my shorter runups and weren’t really thinking about qualifying at all. Then on one kind of middle runup, I got really close to qualifying, and that’s when I first thought ‘maybe this can happen’.’’
And now ... ‘‘Getting in the final is the aim, then anything can happen. If I can have the best technical competition of my life I’d be really happy, and if that gets me a medal it would be an extra bonus.’’
Farquhar, meanwhile, was rapt to get a fourth shot at the Games, achieved when he nailed a big qualifying throw (83.93m) in Sydney at the end of an otherwise unpromising domestic season.
‘‘To achieve one is a great effort, and heading towards your fourth is overwhelming almost. I guess a lot of hard work and persistence over the years has contributed to that,’’ he said.
Now it’s all about improving on that career-best ninth-place finish in London. ‘‘It’s tough, and a hard ask just to qualify. A lot of people bomb out, but my goal is to nail that automatic qualifier and set myself up to push into the top eight, and get close to those medals.’’