Zoe Hobbs was close to her personal best in the 100m heats in Birmingham. Photo / Photosport
Zoe Hobbs was close to her personal best in the 100m heats in Birmingham. Photo / Photosport
By Kris Shannon in Birmingham
It will be over in 11 seconds, but tomorrow morning has been a lifetime in the making for Zoe Hobbs.
The Kiwi sprinter is aiming to continue her rapid acceleration in the sport when she races in the 100m semifinals, with a place in theCommonwealth Games final a couple hours later the tantalising prize waiting at the finish line.
It will be far from straightforward to attain - of the 24 women competing for eight final places, 10 have personal-best times quicker than Hobbs. But the 24-year-old's recent progression means she's perfectly placed for the dash of her life.
"I've done athletics since I was five, so I've always looked at working towards this moment," Hobbs said. "I'm so proud to be a 100-metre [runner] here competing for New Zealand, for the first time in a long time."
Hobbs has been operating in increasingly quicker times this last year.
After twice equalling the previous New Zealand record of 11.32 seconds, set in 1993 by Michelle Seymour, Hobbs finally broke through and lowered that mark to 11.27 last December. Then in January, she lowered it again to 11.21. A few weeks later, it was down to 11.15.
She crept ever closer to the 11-second mark by winning the Oceania Athletics Champions with a time of 11.09, before setting her personal best of 11.08 at June's world championships.
Many athletes talk about peaking at the right time; Hobbs has been walking that talk - in rather brisk fashion - almost every time she hears a starter's gun.
In the heats at Alexander Stadium, Hobbs stopped the clock at 11.09 and eased through to the semifinals, despite a pair of concerns.
Zoe Hobbs was close to her personal best in the 100m heats in Birmingham. Photo / Photosport
First, she began to tighten up towards the latter stages of the race, feeling acutely the weight of the moment.
"I just wanted to feel relaxed throughout the race," Hobbs said. "It's been two weeks since the world champs, and there's been a little bit of jet lag in the mix and a little bit of sickness, so I wasn't really sure how it would go.
"I think I did tense up a little bit towards the end. You never quite know where you are in lane eight; you're kind of blind to the rest of the race.
"My form sort of turned to blurgh a little bit at the end, so I just need to compose myself and get used to being in this kind of environment, because there are full stands right around us and the atmosphere sort of puts you on edge a little more.
"I think now that I've done that heat, it can help me relax going into the semis."
The other concern came when the field were called back to the blocks after Winifrida Makenji had jumped the gun, causing a few nervy moments.
"You never actually know," Hobbs said. "Whenever I've been in a false-start race, I never know who it is - it's not that obvious. It goes off the touch-sensitive block, so you never quite know if it's you, and it does make you a little bit nervous."
Zoe Hobbs finished with the 14th fastest time at the World Athletics Championships in July. Photo / Getty
Her passage safely secured, now the task becomes immeasurably tougher. Hobbs qualified fifth fastest of 16 semifinalists and will be racing alongside Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who took bronze at the world championships behind two compatriots absent in Birmingham.
But there is still plenty of quality in the field, and Hobbs will likely have to again lower that national record if she is to book a final berth.
Lifting her towards the dream she's held since childhood, she says, has been the chance to watch so many of her compatriots achieve theirs in Birmingham.
"New Zealand's done so epic and it's so cool to see so many medals so far and the success of the rest of the team. It is definitely inspiring me."
