800m Meet Record under Threat

The 800m races at the International Track Meet, to be held in Christchurch on 22nd February, took on extra spice today, with an exciting 3-way battle looming in the women’s event.

Rising star Angie Smit, the local hero and twice winner of the women’s event at this meet, will have a rematch against double Commonwealth silver medallist Nikki Hamblin, who won the inaugural event at QEII Stadium in 2009 with then-16-year-old Smit chasing hard in third.  However it is Smit, who competed at the World Championships in Moscow and has already qualified for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, who will now start as favourite alongside Irish athlete Laura Crowe, with Hamblin making a long-awaited return from injury.

Smit holds the current meet record at 2min05.5sec, set at the old QEII Stadium in 2010 after she broke Hamblin’s mark from 2009. That mark looks to be under serious threat on the fastest grass track in the country, with all three athletes holding personal bests between 1m59.6 and 2m00.9 – Hamblin and Smit are New Zealand’s #2 and #3 of all time at the distance, while Crowe is the 4th fastest Irish athlete ever.

Hamblin is delighted to be returning to the meet, which she last competed at in 2009, although she also attended as an ambassador in 2012. “I’m really excited to kick-start my 2014 campaign against such great competition, right here in New Zealand” she said today.

The men’s 800m shapes as a trans-Tasman battle, with local favourite Brad Mathas expecting to be pushed hard by Australia’s Tristan Garrett. Mathas was pipped on the line by just 1/100th of a second by England’s Sam Petty last year, and will be keen to regain the title he won in 2012. Southland teenager Jordan Rackham, the NZ secondary schools champion who has caught the eye of Olympic silver medallist Nick Willis as one to watch, will also be a wildcard entry who could surprise, but will face tough competition from Wellington’s Tim Cornish and Otago’s Ben Anderson.

Event Director Paul Coughlan said today “the 800m has held a special place in this meet since we shifted to the grass track, after we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Sir Peter Snell’s world 800m record on grass here two years ago”. The rematch between Smit and Hamblin is also a graphic demonstration of the event’s athlete development focus, with Smit having progressed from teen prodigy to established international in the five years since the inaugural event.

Entries are now closed for the event, although Coughlan did not rule out adding additional names to the fields as athletes confirmed their availability. Updates on competitor entries and ticket availability are on the website internationaltrackmeet.co.nz