The 2020 Athletics Season is well and truly underway, with Oceania Athletes producing outstanding results across the weekend. Whilst early in the season, results are showing positive signs as we head toward the Olympics, Paralympics and World U20 Championships.
New Zealand: Dame Valerie Adams is BACK!
In her first competition in 20 months, Dame Valerie Adams has thrown 18.65m in the women’s shot put at the Potts Classic in Hastings, bettering the Tokyo Olympic Games entry standard (18.50m) and the entry standard for the World Athletics Indoor Championships (18.30m).
Dame Valerie said she was pretty happy with how the day’s competition went. “I posted up a good distance today. It was pretty consistent so I can’t complain, but this is our first time in 20 months out here so watch this space.”
“We had two goals to come out and achieve today and that was to qualify for World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March and also for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, so it’s pretty awesome to do it on my first competition. That kind of takes the pressure off just a little bit and I just hope to build more on this at the next comp, which is going to be at Porritt Classic on the 15th February.”
In the senior men’s shot put, Tom Walsh secured first with a best throw of 21.10m. Tom said while it was a bit scratchy to start, with two fouls in the first two rounds, overall he was happy with his first competition of the year.
Article Credit Cherie Reid // Photographer Alisha Lovrich Athletics New Zealand
Australia: From Osaka to Canberra
Lisa Weightman competed in the Osaka Marathon, where she showed tremendous patience and maturity. Sitting at 24th place at the halfway point (1:13:38), then carefully worked her way up in the 2nd half, running a negative split (1:12:24) to finish 5th in 2:26:02. The time is a Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier, putting Lisa alongside three other Australian women who have run the women’s marathon Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying time (2:29:30):
The ACT Championships saw some brilliant athletic achievements over the weekend. Eleanor Patterson has set her sights on Olympic Games redemption after a jump of 1.96m which is a Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying height. In the Men’s Long Jump, Darcy Roper’s 8.20m (+1.4) leap was a New PB and just two centimetres shy of an Olympic qualifier.
GIO #OzDay10k
Top Australian wheelchair racers competed against international rivals at the GIO Summer Down Under Series. The annual GIO Oz Day 10K, is a marquee event on the international wheelchair sports calendar. The 31st edition did not disappoint, In the Open Womens it was an Australian Clean Sweep 1. Madison de Rozario 2. Eliza Ault-Connell 3. Christie Dawes. In the Open Men, it was Japan for 1 and 2 followed by Jake Lappin of Australia.
Paralympic Qualification
- Vanessa Low T61 Long Jump = 5.16m. Para Athletics World Record and A Standard Tokyo 2020 Qualifier.
- Sam McIntosh – T52 100m = 17.18 (0.1) A Standard Tokyo 2020 Qualifier.
- Scott Reardon – T63 100m = 12.56 (1.7) & 12.50 (1.7). 2 x B Standard Tokyo 2020 Qualifier.
U20 Qualifiers
To top off the ‘Super Weekend’ of Athletics, several junior athletes achieved a 2020 World Athletics U20 Championships Qualifier. The World Athletics U20 Championships will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 7-12 July 2020
| ATHLETE | EVENT | RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| Oscar Miers | High Jump | 2.22m |
| Lyvante Su'Emai | Discus | 51.01m |
| Talosaga Kia | Discus | 49.90m |
| Ashlyn Blackstock | Discus | 50.13m |
| Ellie Beer | 200m | 23.66 |
| Reece Holder | 400m | 46.68 |
| Josh Cowley | Long Jump | 7.74m |
| Oli Raymond | 1500m | 3:46.31 |
| Mia Gross | 100m | 11.74 |
| Monique Quirk | 100m/200m | 11.65/23.90 |
| Tomysha Clark | Long Jump | 6.25m |
