Athletes putting NZ on the map
It was wonderful to see track and field headlining the TV news and prominent on all media platforms following the huge success of the New Zealand team at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
The team finished an amazing third on the medal table at a championship that had competitors from 133 countries participating.
New Zealand bagged two golds on the final day to add to the two silver medals on day one with the team of 10 also recording two fourth places, a fifth, plus Maia Ramsden’s 10th in the women’s 1500m final on debut.
Former Whanganui Collegiate School runner and Athletics Whanganui member George (Geordie) Beamish, after his exciting 1500m title win, expressed hope that “we’re putting track and field back on the map in New Zealand”.
His hopes have been realised in this Olympic year and, while success indoors does not guarantee Olympic success in August, the team success and the outstanding performances will be a major confidence boost as our athletes prepare for Paris.
The New Zealand team had a great start to the three-day championships with two medals and two further top-five places.
Tom Walsh added yet another medal to his outstanding collection and, although he could not match American world record holder Ryan Crouser (22.77m), Walsh held on to silver with his 22.07m achieved in round one with Jacko Gill finishing fifth with a season’s best of 21.69m (33cm shy of a medal).
Eliza McCartney, who has had long battles with injury, returned to the podium with her silver in the pole vault.
She had an epic battle with Molly Gaudery (Great Britain) with both clearing 4.80m, Gaudery on her second attempt and McCartney on her third, putting her behind on countback. Both failed at the first attempt at 4.85m.
McCartney then bravely passed as she was behind on countback.
Gaudery didn’t clear on her next two attempts, leaving McCartney two attempts at 4.90m and, although missing, she came close which bodes well for the season ahead, settling for a confidence-lifting silver medal.
Maddison Wesche was only 5cm from bronze in the women’s shot, finishing with a personal best 19.67m for fourth.
Earlier on the first day Beamish and Ramsden had qualified for their respective 1500m finals.
Zoe Hobbs on day two came tantalisingly close to a medal in the 60m, missing by only .01s, finishing with a New Zealand and Oceania record of 7.06s, bettering her semifinal time of 7.09s for fourth place.
The final day was the icing on the cake for New Zealand with Hamish Kerr taking gold in the high jump with a New Zealand record of 2.36m which also equalled the Oceania record and was a 2024 world-leading mark.
Kerr was faultless to 2.31m and, with the gold medal won, failed at his first attempt at 2.34m (his New Zealand record) then had the bar raised to 2.36m for two attempts at the height. His second was successful.
In the penultimate race of the championships, Beamish, who has retained his Athletics Wanganui membership, surprised himself and most of the athletics world by snatching gold in the 1500m with an outstanding sprint for home, timing his kick to perfection.
The 100m splits of the race reveal Beamish ran the last 200m lap in 26.11s and the last 100m in 12.78s.
There is no split taken over the last 40m when Beamish moved from fifth to a memorable victory in his sensational final sprint.
It is worth reflecting that three World Indoor Champions, our two New Zealanders Beamish and Kerr and Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers (nee McDermott), all competed in recent Pak’nSave Cooks Classic. Kerr and Olyslagers hold stadium records and Beamish, in his last year at school in 2014, won two New Zealand Secondary Schools titles at Cooks Gardens.
All but the two American-based athletes (Beamish and Ramsden) from the Glasgow team will be in Wellington at the end of next week for the Jennian Homes Athletics New Zealand Track and Field Championships. Their success at the World Indoor Championships will generate considerable interest – a promoter’s dream. I can’t wait.
Hopefully, the Manawatū / Whanganui team, which has many Whanganui athletes, has been inspired by the performances in Glasgow and will return with a raft of personal bests.
The Whanganui Secondary Schools Championships will be held on Tuesday, March 12.