One Year to Glasgow Commonwealth Games
23 July 2013
With the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow one year away today, the make-up of the final New Zealand athletics team will be expected to provide a nice blend of experienced older international performers and a smattering of exciting, young talent.
Ten athletes have already secured qualification marks for the quadrennial event and a team totally more than twenty athletes could be in line to descend on the Scottish city.
Four years ago in New Delhi, New Zealand enjoyed their best athletics medal haul at a Commonwealth Games since the 1990 Auckland edition, winning one gold, five silver and two bronze medals.
The competition in Glasgow is expected to be even more intense with a combination of the European location of the Games and the timing of the competition – in the heart of the international season – expected to attract better quality fields in a significant number of events.
Likely to be leading the Kiwi challenge will be Valerie Adams, New Zealand’s solitary athletics gold medallist from New Delhi. The two-time Olympic champion is seeking a hat-trick of Commonwealth shot put titles, a feat which would match the accomplishments of New Zealand’s Val Young (nee Sloper) who secured three straight golds in this event from 1958-1966.
Among the other strong New Zealand medal challengers include a pair of silver medallists in their respective events from New Delhi; Stuart Farquhar (javelin) and Brent Newdick (decathlon). Both athletes have posted PB’s since the 2010 Commonwealth Games and they will again be eyeing a podium spot.
Women’s endurance running is enjoying a resurgence in New Zealand over the past few seasons and three women - Angie Smit (800m), Lucy Van Dalen (5000m) and Kim Smith (10,000m) – have already secured qualification marks for Glasgow. Look out too, for Nikki Hamblin, a double silver medallist in 800m and 1500m at the New Delhi Games – another with genuine medal potential.
Marathon runner Mary Davies – who moved to No.4 on the all-time New Zealand lists with a 2:28:57 clocking in Toronto last October – is another who could challenge, should she elect to target Glasgow.
Men’s middle and long -distance runners will also look to make a mark. The 2006 Commonwealth 1500m champion and 2010 bronze medallist Nick Willis will be looking for an unprecedented third successive podium finish in the metric mile. Meanwhile, his countrymen African-based Hamilton twins Jake and Zane Robertson have both qualified for the 5000m (Jake has also qualified for the 10,000m) and both hope to be in the mix.
The men’s shot could also provide lots of interest as the top-two in the all-time New Zealand rankings Jacko Gill and Tom Walsh will seek to qualify for Glasgow. Gill, 18, a two-time World Junior champion is regarded as one of the finest young talents in the sport and is already holder of the national record with a senior shot of 20.38m. Meanwhile, Walsh has thrown 20.09m this year just 0.01cm shy of the 2013 World Championships B standard.
Other names with the potential to make an impact at next year’s Commonwealth Games; include New Zealand hammer record holder Julia Ratcliffe, who finished fourth at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Her fellow 20-year-old Portia Bing, placed one place lower than Julia at those same World Junior Championships in heptathlon and is another with the potential to make a big impact in Scotland.
Other athletes to have already secured a qualification mark a year out from the Games include; Julian Matthews (men’s 1500m) and Scott McLaren (decathlon).
Athletics New Zealand High Performance director Scott Goodman said, "With a year to go to the Commonwealth Games, our pool of top athletes will already be targeting Glasgow as a big priority for 2014.“
“The nomination criteria for Glasgow is now available with the expectation that every athlete we send to Scotland is capable of a top six finish in their chosen event. We obviously hope for medal success and believe we can attain that through a combination of our more experienced internationals and also some of our younger performers," he added.