Kiwi sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia has run the race of his life to not only reach the 100m semifinals at the World Athletics Championships, but also break his father’s 28-year national record.
The 21-year-old athlete from Australia provided the standout New Zealand moment of the evening session on the opening day of the Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with a brilliant performance in the seventh and final moto of the 100m at Hayward Field.
The powerful Osei-Nketia had to finish in the top three of the heat to secure a spot in the semi-finals, but got off to a solid start and found an extra gear in the middle of the stages to go home in 10.08 seconds. to fly to finish second. That dipped below his PB of 10.12sec and, more importantly, the national record of 10.11sec set by his father Gus Nketia in 1994.
Hannah Peters
New Zealander Eddie Osei-Nketia, center, drives home to finish second in his 100m heat at the world championships.
The Kiwi also couldn’t hide his joy when times were up at the end of the race, jumping for joy and pumping his fist in the air when he realized he hadn’t just advanced to the next round in the top 24 of the race. world, but had also become the fastest New Zealander ever in the process.
READ MORE:
* Sprint ace Zoe Hobbs aims for 11-second barrier in quest for World Athletics Championships
* Birmingham Commonwealth Games: Meet the New Zealand Team Going for Gold
* South Canterbury athletes watch Commonwealth Games world titles
* How Sir Mo Farah’s Remarkable Life Is Now Even More Remarkable
The synergy with his father’s achievements didn’t stop there for Osei-Nketia either. Getting through the heats matched Gus’ efforts in reaching the 100m semi-finals at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg – the only time a Kiwi sprinter had progressed this far.
Osei-Nketia finished 16th out of 24 semi-finalists to line up on Sunday (NZT) – a list topped by a sensational heat performance from American Fred Kerley who ran 9.79 seconds for his preference for the gold to underline the medal.
Hannah Peters
Eddie Osei-Nketia broke his father’s 28-year-old national 100m record at the Eugene World Championships.
It was the fastest heat time ever for the 100m at a major championship and left no doubt that he is the man they will all be chasing at the business end of the event.
Nketia’s effort highlighted a strong evening session for the New Zealanders in Eugene, with shot put exponents Maddison-Lee Wesche, Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill all advancing safely to their final, and pole vaulter Olivia McTaggart also made it to the final of that event.
23-year-old Wesche, who finished sixth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, kept her cool to advance to the women’s shot put final as 8th overall with her second toss of 18.96m. Aucklander, with a PB of 19.10m, had opened qualifying with a throw of 18.64m.
China’s Gong Lijiao led the qualifiers with the best 19.51m of the season, with 10 of the 12 finalists passing the automatic 18.90m mark.
Former world champion Walsh saved his best for last in men’s qualifying, nailing 21.44m with his third and final throw to get past the automatic 21.20m mark. He had previously run 20.81m and 21.11m with his previous efforts.
Compatriot Gill also progressed with ease as he hit 21.24m on his second throw, after opening with 20.16m.
Walsh was third overall and Gill fifth in a group led by two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser (22.28m) and defending champion Joe Kovacs (21.50m).
Earlier in the day’s session, Hamish Kerr, bronze medalist for indoor indoor, failed to qualify for the final, which meant a disappointing result for the fast-rising show jumpers.
Kerr wasn’t the only Kiwi to fail to advance to the finals as the global championships kicked off at Hayward Field, also falling short of the women’s hammer trio Lauren Bruce, Julia Ratcliffe and Nicole Bradley.
But Kerr, who won a surprising bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March, not going through was the biggest surprise.
Kerr had to run 2.30m for automatic qualification, or finish in the top 12 to continue, Kerr finished 14th with a successful jump of 2.25m, missing a countback.
That’s 6cm below the Kiwi’s personal best, ending the Commonwealth Games campaign prematurely.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Hamish Kerr failed to make it to the US high jump finals.
Mexico’s Edgar Rivera and Germany’s Mateusz Przybylko slipped to the final with a distance of 2.25m on countback.
“It was a tough day, although I’m really proud of how I fought,” Kerr said.
“I had some good jumps, some good heights and some good distances, but in the end it wasn’t at the right height, but that’s what you get in the sport, and it definitely hurts. But from now on Comm Games are coming and that’s what I need to focus on right now.”
New Zealand champion and national record holder Bruce also fell painfully short to advance in the hammer.
Bruce needed a 73.50m throw to automatically qualify for the women’s final or finish in the top 12, and he achieved a best of 70.86m.
That was good enough for seventh in Group A, forcing her to wait anxiously while the second group, which included Ratcliffe and Bradley, entered the competition.
When all was said and done, Bruce’s 70.86m was 1cm behind Sweden’s Grete Ahlberg, who set a personal best to sneak into the top 12 and finish the championships of the New Zealand and Oceania record holder (74.61m).
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Kiwi Lauren Bruce fell painfully short in qualifying for the women’s hammer throw final at the Oregon World Championships.
“I had a lot of fun there in stark contrast to Tokyo [Olympics]”, said Bruce, whose best in Tokyo was 67.71m.
“I would have loved to keep throwing, but it’s the first time I’ve come out for a major. I’m happy with what I did and how I controlled the competition.”
Ratcliffe (69.96m) finished 16th, while Bradley (62.88m) finished 30th.
Kiwi Quentin Rew finished 35th in the 20km race walk in 1 hour 29 minutes 19 seconds in a race won by Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi in 1:19:07.
Also in the evening session on Saturday, pole vaulters Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris (12:20am NZT), 100m sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia (1:50am) and men’s shot putters Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill (1:55m) are in action to advance to the finals. ).