Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs has equalled her personal best time in the 100 metres with a flying 11.32 seconds.
By Symone Tafuna'i
It saw the 23-year-old take out the race at the Festival of Athletics in Townsville, Australia last night.
Hobbs said it's “bittersweet to equal the national record again”.
The record was formerly held by Michelle Seymour in 1993 who also shares the same time with Hobbs (11.32 seconds).
Hobbs has been based in Australia for a few weeks now as she attempts to make the Olympic qualification time of 11.15 seconds.
Although disappointed about missing the qualification time, she said she’d taken a few positives away from the race.
“I have managed to stay consistent and my new average [time] is now lower than it was before,” Hobbs said.
“It was good being based in Australia. It has been really cool being a part of the competitive environment.”
She said the excitement and the warm weather of Australia has helped her performance.
Hobbs was able to line up with the fastest girls in Australia who were also wanting to book their ticket to Tokyo.
She has competed in three competitions: two in Gold Coast where she ran wind assisted races of 11.31 (Oceania Invitational 1) and 11.27 (Oceania Invitational 2) seconds.
Hobbs explained how her first competition in Australia “was really good but then I started to freak out and race the others instead of composing my own race”.
So, going into the second race, Hobbs said her goal was to “focus on relaxing and keeping composed in the tall end of the race”.
Despite Hobbs having a stronger finish, she wasn’t able to get her usual fiery block start the second time round.
“If I had pieced together the right race I think I am capable of running 11.15 seconds,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs will now be travelling to Europe to continue her competition season despite the New Zealand Olympic qualification period closing tomorrow.
She said she was looking forward to competing internationally as she would like to get international experience “to help [her] development as an athlete”.
SHARE ME