Athletics NZ HP Director looks back on 2017

Athletics NZ High Performance Director Scott Goodman reflects on another successful year for the High Performance team and looks ahead to a 2018 campaign with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games as its pinnacle.

After a dream year in 2016 in which New Zealand won four medals at the Rio Olympics Games, what was the expectation leading into 2017?

The expectation was to try and stabilise our performance from 2016. We were hopeful that Tom (Walsh) and Eliza (McCartney) would do well again at the World Championships and we knew Valerie was not available because of pregnancy. We also fully supported Nick (Willis) following his Olympic bronze in Rio. We also put a lot of energy into our pre-carding Performance Potential Squad in terms of our philosophy for the squad and how we function and operate.

Do you feel Athletics NZ achieved its ambitions at the London World Championships?

Partially. Elizas preparation wasnt ideal because of the Achilles injury but Im confident that when she is fully fit she is still in the top two or three in the world. Nick was due to qualify in May but then got injured. He qualified late but to make the final and still produce to an incredibly high level in an extremely tough event (the 1500m) was pleasing. Quentin Rew also made a big improvement in 2017. Maybe, this was not reflected in his placing (he was 12th at the London World Championships the same position as in Rio but he slashed his 50km walk PB by more than two minutes in the British capital) but in terms of the quality of his preparation, and Im confident he will break into the top eight. Zane (Robertson) finished 16th in Rio, which perhaps didnt go as well as he would have liked, but he was still the first non-African-born athlete. Jacko matched his performance from Rio by finishing ninth but weve made some massive improvements to his support structure. Weve also managed to bring on board Kirsten Hellier (Athletics NZ HP Programme coach - throws) and given an injury-free run he is very capable of throwing 21.50m in the next three to six months.

We had some other athletes who made their World Championships debuts, who we hoped would do better but it was their first time on that stage and we will continue to support them. Im also excited about the group just below them such as Olivia McTaggart, Ryan Ballantyne and Lauren Bruce, who have all indicating they could be in the mix for a top 16 place in Tokyo (2020 Olympics). People jokingly said we went into Rio with three medal chances and won four. What weve really got to set ourselves up with is seven or eight medal chances.

With Zane and Jake based in Africa how easy is it to give them the support that you would like?

It is very challenging. We have tried different approaches and we are working with a UK-based physio to travel to Africa for blocks of time. The difficulties occur when the twins develop overloading injuries, so common among distance runners. We have sent them for medical support in the past to Germany and Qatar and now we are hoping to send them to London.

The big success story of 2017 was Tom Walsh, which was also a big success story for Athletics NZ and HPSNZ.

Yes, from his original coach Ian Baird, through to Andrew Maclennan and then Dale (Stevenson, his current coach) he has had a number of influential coaches. He is part of a strong throws squad and another key person in his team is HPSNZ strength and conditioning coach, Angus Ross. Angus is a world leader in power and strength and conditioning and is the "lynchpin" for a number of our key NZ-based athlete support teams. Tom trains quite differently to any other top male shot putter in the world - and Im surprised more people around in the world are not more interested in what he is doing. Theres been a mindset in shot putting of how much you can lift or bench press and, while Tom is strong, in no way do his stats match up to the other leading throwers. He does a lot of unique lifts and exercises. He may not have the numbers but he can more than make up in technique and explosiveness. Angus is also working with Jacko and we are all very appreciate of the impact and nature of his (Angus) innovative work.

New Zealand claimed five medals at the 2017 World Para-Athletics Championships in London. How would you assess the performance?

I was really pleased. Liam Malone was not able to compete due to some injury problems but hes back in full-time training and I think it is safe to assume New Zealand could have won seven or eight medals had he been there. It was encouraging from a depth point of view that Liam and Anna (Grimaldi) the two gold medallists from Rio werent among the four medallists (in London). We now have a strong group of athletes that include a new talent in Keegan Pitcher and a lot of work is being done on identifying the next generation of athletes. We brought Brett Watton on board as Athletics NZ HP Para Programme Manager, who will be working with the clubs and community to identify that talent and find them the best training programmes. I think we are in good shape to put together a team of 12+ in Tokyo and, remember, we had a team six for the Rio Paralympics. This does not necessarily mean more medals but it does add more depth and a greater chance of sustaining our current level of success.

You have recently brought on board Brent Booker and Amanda Murphy as assistant coaches for pole vault and throws, respectively, what the reasoning behind this?

Amanda is helping Dale Stevenson with his Christchurch throws squad and Brent is assisting with Jeremys McColls North Shore pole vault squad. We are trying to support Dale and Jeremy so that when they are travelling for several months with a handful of senior athletes Brent and Amanda can cover the rest of their group based back in New Zealand. With that support in place the coach can now comfortably take a break to avoid burn out. Another benefit of having the two assistants in place is it allows Jeremy and Dale to pass on and share their knowledge with other coaches.

Do have a personal highlight in 2017?

I cant really look beyond Toms World Championship win. Tom always conducts himself so well and is a fantastic person to have on a team. He is a natural leader and is admired by all the other athletes. Just to see the reaction to Toms gold medal by the likes of Dale (Stevenson), Ian (Baird)and Angus (Ross) was very special.

What are the HP teams ambitions for 2018?

We are really keen to develop our philosophy around the Athletics NZ Performance Potential Squad. We are just as keen to look at the approach and behaviours of our younger athletes as much as developing their technique or physical development. What we have found is that successful athletes like Tom, Nick, Valerie or Eliza all have some common behaviours. They are all committed, able to prioritise and have the ability to switch off and have a life outside of training. So, in the future it is not simply about how hard an athlete trains or how much perceived "talent" that they have, but we are looking at the whole package.

And what are the expectations for the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Weve set a target of six to eight medals and we think this is realistic. We are hoping our key athletes will be near their best at the Commonwealth Games in April. For others, it is a good opportunity to win medals, gain some recognition and earn some welcome exposure. The next three years is quite challenging in terms of the fact the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha take place in October, which is late in year and the Tokyo Olympics are nine to ten months later. We also have to be mindful of the decision of the IAAF to introduce a rankings system to qualify for the World Championships and Olympic Games. We are trying to garner as much information as we can on this because it might mean we have to send athletes to Europe to accumulate points to qualify. The whole landscape could change and we may face some real challenges.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Athletics New Zealand