Games contenders’ last chance to qualify
22 January 2006
By STEVE KILGALLON
Next weekend’s national championship in Christchurch marks the last chance for Kiwi athletes to qualify on home soil for the Commonwealth Games, but with the team now standing at a record 23, few names are expected to be added to the list.
Rebecca Forlong became the latest to join the team when she made the 3000m steeplechase mark on Thursday night.
The team is almost twice the size of that for the 2002 Games, but New Zealand Athletics performance director Eric Hollingsworth has despatched several athletes across the Tasman this weekend as he seeks to push his team up to the target figure of 28.
Hamilton javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar, hurdlers Nick O’Brien and James Mortimer and 400m runner Jane Arnott are at the Queensland championships today and will also be in Christchurch.
Only another handful might qualify at QEII Stadium on Friday and Saturday but Hollingsworth says the championships are a vital preparation for the Games team, all of whom are expected to compete.
“We want them all to be there. It is the second-to-last chance to look at them,” he said. “The possibility of a national title should bring the best from them.”
The men’s 100m could be the most intriguing event, with a squad of 10 sprinters all competing for the six spots in the relay team.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"To use an analogy everyone will be aware of, we’ve gone through a similar process to (All Blacks coach) Graham Henry," Hollingsworth said. “We have shown we have got depth and any four together can run a sub-40s time which bodes well in case of injury. It’s really quite exciting.”
The first three past the post at Christchurch will automatically qualify, with the remaining three spots being decided on a discretionary basis by selectors.
Hollingsworth thinks there is an outside chance only that any of the sprinters will post an individual qualifying time, though he concedes Chris Donaldson and Donald MacDonald both have the capacity to surprise.
The fit-again Donaldson has been on an upward curve and Hollingsworth said it would be great to see him achieve a time.
“He’s done a great job, considering the problems he’s had are normally the death of a sprinter. For all the years of service he has given New Zealand, it would be good if he could carry the baton down the last leg to victory in Melbourne.”
The most likely to secure a spot at Christchurch is decathlete Peter Cox, who missed on a qualifying total last month when he no-heighted in the pole vault.
Fellow decathlete Brent Newdick is considered a “smokey” by Hollingsworth, while revitalised hammer thrower Phil Jensen is a couple of metres short of the required distance.