His coach promised a 22 metre-plus throw, and Jacko Gill delivered to light up the Sir Graeme Douglas International athletics meet in West Auckland on Thursday night as he scored another confidence-boosting victory over chief rival Tom Walsh.
And New Zealand sprint sensation Zoe Hobbs served up another world-class display to put the exclamation point on an incredible fortnight for the Aucklander as she blitzed down the track in 11.02s to cruise to victory in the women’s 100m in a New Zealand resident and all-comers’ record.
Gill grabbed the men’s shot put competition by the scruff of the neck from his opening throw, blasting out a winning, and personal best, throw of 22.12 metres at Trusts Arena – the first time the 28-year-old Aucklander has ever been out beyond the 22m threshold – to back up his victory over Walsh at the national championships a couple of weeks back.
Walsh ‘s best throw of 21.79m (1cm off his season’s best) also came in the opening round, as both athletes struggled to back up on their first-up efforts. The rain that fell over the back half of the competition did not help either.
READ MORE:
* Trading places: Why shot put coach Dale Stevenson threw in with Jacko Gill
* Special rivalry helps spur pole vaulter Olivia McTaggart to notable heights
* ‘Absolutely stoked’: Zoe Hobbs officially breaks 11-second record in Sydney
* Tom Walsh seeks swift revenge against Jacko Gill at Auckland meet
Gill’s series was a solid 22.12m, 21.92m, 21.78m, 20.89m and 20.54m before he passed on his last throw. Walsh managed just three counting throws, backing up his opening effort with 21.07m in the second round and 21.07m in the fifth.
Gill’s coach, Dale Stevenson, who formerly guided Walsh before the two parted ways late in 2021, had told Stuff post-nationals that his charge would break the 22m barrier at SGD. Gill’s PB was the 21.90m he threw for silver (behind Walsh) at last year’s Commonwealth Games, while he threw 21.80 to defeat the Cantab at the national championships.
“We’ll be looking to go 22-plus in Waitakere. I’ve put that challenge to Jacko,” said Stevenson. And, sure enough, the Aucklander delivered to make it two from two against the Olympic bronze medallist who only decided to compete in Auckland at the last minute following his defeat at the national championships.
Gill said he had felt a good one brewing all week and was rapt to deliver when it mattered.
“I felt good, and I was really happy to get the PB,” said Gill afterwards. “It was a good week, I had good preparation, and I was really happy it all came together today.
“I felt really good today. In the warmups I felt like I had a good rhythm. I thought it was far, but not quite that far, so I was stoked.”
And Gill paid tribute to Walsh for coming north for the meet, which he said provided him with the extra edge he needed to achieve that PB.
“It was huge,” he said. “When I saw he was coming to Waitakere it added extra motivation, so I’m really grateful for him coming up. And he’s first week into his European preparation. He’s an awesome man and I really appreciate it.”
Walsh, for his part, took a second straight defeat to Gill in his stride, and with an element of good humour as he builds towards the major events later in the year.
“I always want to throw further,” he said. “I feel like we’ve done a lot of technical work in the off-season and probably not a lot of freedom and going-for-it work, and that in hindsight is something we should have got a little bit better as a team.”
And Walsh refused to blame the rain for his inability to challenge the 22m mark as the competition went on.
“You’ve got to be ready to do whatever you need to do. If it rains you’ve just got to be ready to deal with it,” he said. “There’s still no reason why you can’t throw far in the rain. It’s just about giving it a chance and I felt like I did that in the last three rounds – just not quite as good as the first few rounds.”
Hobbs’ incredible form continued on Thursday night in Waitakere. Remember, she ran a windy 10.89s in the 100m final at nationals less than a fortnight ago, after a national record 11.07s in the heats. Then she jumped on the plane and blasted out a legal 10.97s in Sydney last Saturday night that blitzed her New Zealand and Oceania marks.
Now here she was, in less than favourable conditions, on a cool and slightly wet night, dominating a quality women’s 100m with the second best legal time of her career, and the best time run by a Kiwi in New Zealand. She looked in control of the race throughout as she cruised home well ahead of Aussies Bree Masters (11.23s) and Ella Connolly (11.35s).
“I’m a bit tired,” said Hobbs afterwards. “It’s been a massive two weeks and I didn’t have a lot of expectation coming into this race. I just wanted to have fun. We were racing quite late and the weather hasn’t been the best. So I was just happy to cross the line and have fun with it.
“It’s pretty crazy,” she said of the 11.02. “I was surprised to hear that time because I didn’t get the best start. I sort of stumbled at the start and rose quite early and didn’t get to accelerate as deep as what I hoped to. It’s pretty reassuring I can still run that [time] and not piece together the perfect race.”
Meanwhile top Kiwi long jumper Shay Veitch produced an eye-catching PB leap of 7.99 metres to finish second, behind leading Aussie Liam Adcock (8.18m).
The Otago athlete was just 6cm off Bob Thomas’ New Zealand record of 8.05m set in 1968, and it seems only a matter of time before he hauls it in. The leap took Veitch to joint No 2 on the all-time national list and it was the longest jump by a Kiwi in quarter of a century.
Adcock’s winning leap was above the wind limit, but his next best jump of 8.05m equalled the New Zealand all-comers record.
National champion Eliza McCartney won a disappointing women’s pole vault competition that rather fizzled out in the rain. She cleared 4.46m and her main rivals Olivia McTaggart, who last weekend bagged a world champs qualifier of 4.71m, and Imogen Ayris both no-heighted in the wet.
In other key results Maddi Wesche won the women’s shot put in a promising 19.11m, just 2cm off her season’s best and the third best throw of her career; Rosie Elliott continued her dominance of the 400m on the domestic scene with a convincing victory in 53.22s; and Laura Nagel (4min 15.57sec) was the first Kiwi home, and third overall, in a quality women’s 1500m won by Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka in 4:14.46.
Discussion about this post