World best marks light up Christchurch

The Para athletes took centre stage at the Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Christchurch as shot put aces Lisa Adams (F37) and Tayla Clement (F43) posted a pair of stunning world best marks*.

In overcast conditions, Adams, who is coached by her sister Dame Valerie Adams, pounded the metal ball out to 14.12m with her sixth round throw to create a slice of history, which led to an emotional embrace between the siblings at Nga Puni Wai.

After only taking up the sport a little over 12 months ago, the Rotorua-based athlete has made staggering progress and today was a resounding confirmation of that fact.

“It is absolutely hard to believe (how far I’ve come), it is quite mind-boggling,” says Adams on bettering the world record mark of 13.96m held by German Fransziska Liebhardt of Germany. “If I look back to last year’s nationals I didn’t even throw 10m.

“I did know what the world record was coming into the competition, but it wasn’t the targeted goal to smash it. The aim was to get stronger technically. Everything we do in training we pretty much apply during our competitions and it turned out well today.

“It was a special moment running over to my sister,” explains Adams. “I started high-fiving her and then the tears started.”

Clement (Auckland) added 12cm to her personal best and was elated to set a world best mark just three weeks after joining a new coach, John Eden.

“I’m absolutely stoked,” she says. “It still doesn’t feel real. I haven’t had the best of seasons and the coaching change has worked really well. I’ve really put the hard work in over the past few weeks and it has really paid off.

“It still doesn’t feel real (to be a world best holder). It is very exciting,” adds Clement, whose main goal for 2019 is success at the World Para Championships in Dubai in November.

In the women’s para long jump, rising T36 star Danielle Aitchison (Waikato BoP) pocketed gold with a best effort of 3.90m of Waikato BoP. Paralympic T47 long jump champion Anna Grimaldi (Otago) was a little shy of her best today and had to settle for the championship silver with a best of 4.96m.

Elsewhere, on a top-quality morning of action, Youth Olympic champion Connor Bell (Auckland) once again gave a demonstration of his rising ability by smashing his own New Zealand U20 and U19 records with an imperious display.

In conditions far from conducive for top throwing, Bell surpassed his previous record mark by 33cm with a 60.05m toss in round six to be crowned national champion.

“The wind was behind and in better conditions there is the opportunity to throw further, but I’m quite happy with how I competed,” explains Bell, who in rounds two through to four produced a series of 58m throws.

“I had three KPIs that set my technique up for a good throw and I managed to pull it altogether,” he adds. “For my last throw I didn’t make much of an adjustment but the timing synched together a little more easily and it came out hotter and the discus went further.”

James Steyn caused an upset to defeat his training partner to bring an end to Nic Southgate four-year reign as men’s senior pole vault champion.

Steyn’s first time clearance at 5.15m was enough to earn gold on countback from Southgate, although the latter came tantalisingly close to clearing 5.30m.

The in-form Steyn, who set a PB of 5.21m earlier this season, paid tribute to his coach, Jeremy McColl, for his improved form.

“My speed has got dramatically better as has my mental strength and confidence,” said Steyn, 20, who is targeting the World University Games in July. “Also Jeremy has made a new call on poles, which is working very well.”

The main protagonists all advanced to tomorrow’s senior women’s 200m final via this morning’s heats. Yesterday’s 100m champion and defending champion Zoe Hobbs (Auckland) led the qualifiers in 24.00 – finishing 0.17 clear of Georgia Hulls (Hawkes Bay Gisborne).

Hobbs, however, will not have matters all her own way as Olivia Eaton (Taranaki) produced a slick piece of sprinting to record 24.08 on her way to heat two victory ahead of national 400m hurdles champion Portia Bing (24.46).

In the absence of men’s 100m champion Eddie Osei-Nketia, who withdrew from the 200m as a precautionary measure to nurse a sore hamstring, Hamish Gill (Auckland) headed the qualifiers for tomorrow’s final over the half-lap distance.

Gill ran 21.99 to shade the heat one victory by 0.07 from his fellow Aucklander Jordan Bolland. Michael Goldie of Waikato BoP took out the second heat in 22.33.

Hamish Carson (Wellington) took a step closer to matching John Walker’s record of seven national 1500m titles as he cruised through heat one of the senior men’s metric mile. Carson crossed the line in 3:56.88 to finish a stride clear of Cameron Graves (Auckland), who advanced in second.

Rising teenage middle-distance star Sam Tanner, who set a national U19 1500m record in Wanganui in January, also earned safe passage into tomorrow’s final. The Waikato BoP athlete grabbed heat two victory in 3:58.78 to finish 0.09 clear of Auckland’s Simon Rogers.

*Adams and Clement’s mark is not an official world record because the Jennian Homes NZ Track & Field Championships is not an official sanctioned event for para athletes.

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