Zoe Hobbs breaks New Zealand and Oceania record once again, goes sub 11 seconds

Zoe Hobbs post 100m NZ Record in Ostrava. Photo / James Rhodes / Athletics NZ

Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs has broken the New Zealand and Oceania 100m record once again after going sub 11 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting in the Czech Republic today.

Hobbs continued her electric return to form with a time of 10.94 seconds to finish third at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Meeting.

The time eclipses the old New Zealand and Oceania record of 10.96 seconds she set in 2023 in Switzerland.

Hobbs had a perfect start, leading the quality field until the 60m mark, until Thelma Davies (Liberia) and Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith (Côte D’ivoire) drew level and nudged ahead over the line.

Her 10.94 performance is her first time sub 11s in almost two years.

This performance is made all the more impactful for the light trailing wind (+0.6 m/s) and the performance being run at sea-level.

In other events, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won the pole vault, as 17-year-old Australian Gout Gout improved his 200 metres personal best to 20.02 seconds.

Duplantis cleared 6.13m before failing to get over 6.29 metres for what would have been a new world record nine days after setting his latest one at 6.28m.

The 25-year-old double Olympic champion was in a league of his own once again as second-placed Emmanouil Karalis of Greece did not even get close to clearing 6.02m.

“I feel pretty good about it. I can’t complain too much. Overall I feel like I jumped really well,” Duplantis said.

Gout Gout, who had run 200m in a wind-assisted 19.84 seconds in April, stormed to a convincing win in a new Australian record in his first race in Europe.

“I don’t feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it’s just me by myself and what I’ve got to do - my favourite thing, and that’s to run,” Gout said.

“So, I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that.”

Reigning Olympic champion Grant Holloway lost to US compatriot Dylan Beard in the 110m hurdles for the second time in four days.

Holloway only finished fifth at the Diamond League in Paris last Friday as Beard took the second spot.

In Ostrava, Beard edged a slowing Holloway on the finish line with both clocking 13.13 seconds.

“This is not the way I execute the race,” Holloway said before admitting “the time is all right”.

South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso won the women’s 800m in 1:57.16, the second fastest time this season.

In the 400m, Femke Bol, a triple medallist from the Paris Olympics last year, only took the third spot in her first start in the event this season, after focusing on 400m hurdles.

Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain won in 49.15 seconds with Bol clocking 49.98 seconds.

Eighteen-year-old Kenyan Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech won the men’s 1500 metres in 3:29.05, trailing his time in Paris last week by just over a second.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan won the women’s 110m hurdles in 12.45 seconds.

Serbia’s Adriana Vilagos upset reigning Olympic and Diamond League champion Haruka Kitaguchi to win the women’s javelin with 64.87m, topping the Japanese by 99 centimetres.

- With AFP