Athletics World Championships: New Zealand pole vault trio advance to final, Hamish Kerr leaps into high jump final in Tokyo

New Zealand's Imogen Ayris in action during the women's pole vault qualification at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Photo / Getty Images

The Kiwi pole vault trio of Olivia McTaggart, Eliza McCartney and Imogen Ayris have all qualified for the World Athletics Championships final in Tokyo.

Ayris cleared 4.25m, 4.45m and 4.60m on her first attempts, which was enough to join the 14 athletes in the final for the first time in her career.

Rio Olympic medallist McCartney had just one failure at 4.45m before going clear at 4.60m, while McTaggart kept her cool after two failures at 4.60m to go clear on her final attempt.

McTaggart last made the final at the World Championships in 2022, and it’s been a longer wait for McCartney going back to 2017 in London when she finished ninth.

World No 1 Katie Moon had a shaky start, failing with her first attempt at 4.45m before clearing on her second go and then making it over 4.60m to also reach the final.

World indoor champion Molly Caudery withdrew from the event after suffering an ankle injury in warm-ups.

Overnight, Hamish Kerr got the World Championships qualification monkey off his back, jumping 2.25m to advance to tomorrow night’s 13-strong high jump final.

The New Zealand Olympic champion had fallen short in the last two World Championships qualifying rounds, failing to make the final in 2022 (Eugene) and 2023 (Budapest).

It was a marathon of a qualifying round for the jumpers, with Kerr out on the track for over two and a half hours, as overlaps with the track programme caused delays.

In the end, 13 athletes advanced to the final, including world leader Oleh Doroshchuk and 2025 World Indoor champion Sanghyeok Woo. Completing the Oceania contingent is Australian Yual Reath, making his first World Championships final.

On the track, Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs came within 0.06s of making the final in the 100m, running 11.09s in the semifinals to finish 12th overall.

The performance caps off a huge year for Hobbs that included a new New Zealand record and a milestone Diamond League podium.

Compatriot Sam Tanner finished 10th with a time of 3m 43.73s in his heat of the 1500m, failing to advance to the final. Lauren Bruce threw a 69.19m second-round best in the women’s hammer qualifying but also did not advance to the final.

George Beamish returns to the track tomorrow in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final (12.55am) after his viral fall in the heats captured international attention.