New Zealand’s big evening in the track and field didn’t go as supporters had hoped.
Zoe Hobbs had hopes of becoming the first New Zealander to make an Olympic sprint final since Arthur Porritt a century ago.
But she couldn’t find the speed to push on in the later stages of her semi-final and finished sixth in a time of 11.13s - well below her best and slower even than her heat time.
Hobbs was the 14th fastest of the 27 semi-finalists. Three runners who failed to break 11s in the semis qualified for the final, including American Twanisha Terry, who got through with 11.07s. Before she got to Paris, Hobbs would have backed herself to run considerably faster than 11.07s.
Nevertheless Hobbs joins an exclusive club of New Zealanders since Porritt, in his famous bronze medal-winning Olympic appearance in 1924, to have made an Olympic 100m semi-final. Others include Norma Wilson in 1928 and Maurie Rae in 1956.
“I just didn’t execute the race I wanted,” Hobbs said. “I let it slip through my fingers. You have to put together a perfect race, especially to make an Olympic final, and I didn’t do that.
“If it’d been a good time I could’ve accepted it, but to run 11.13 was very disappointing.”
New Zealand had two men’s shot put contenders. Tom Walsh, a bronze medallist in 2016 and 2021, and Jacko Gill, 9th at both those Games, qualified well and seemed ready for a big performance.
But Walsh, after a first-round foul, injured an abductor muscle on his second throw and limped away from the circle disconsolate. He couldn’t throw properly on his third attempt, also a foul.
He explained he’d suffered the injury before, but that with good treatment he was hoping he’d be okay for the Olympics.
“I felt good in qualifying, but in the second throw today it just blew to bits. I knew I was done for. It’s pretty disappointing, even if I knew it could happen.”
Gill opened with a foul, thew a mediocre 20.81m, then 21.15m, which earned him a spot in the top eight and another three throws. He didn’t seem to be hitting it quite right and had another foul, a 19.23m effort and finally 20.47m.
His best throw, 20 centimetres less than he managed in qualifying, earned him 7th spot overall. It was the first time Gill has made the top eight at the Olympics.
The shot put was won for the third consecutive Olympics by American Ryan Crouser, who threw a whopping 22.90m. His countryman Joe Kovacs won the silver for the third time.
The first New Zealander up in the session was Sam Tanner in the 1500m repechage. Tanner at his best is a gritty, talented runner, but he’s not as his best just now, still looking for full fitness after some injury woes this year.
In the repechage he ran near the front of the field for the first 700m then slipped back, eventually finishing 13th in 3min 40.71s, with only the top three advancing to the semis.
Tanner said missing two key months of training meant he was well behind in his preparation. “I’m very disappointed with that performance, but I know I did everything I could. It’s just the circumstances make it so frustrating.”