Athletics Insight: Whanganui’s Lucas Martin clocks personal best in world team race walk after injury woes

Whanganui race walker Lucas Martin has had a promising return from injury with a personal best while representing New Zealand in Brazil.

The three Whanganui athletes who competed overseas at the weekend battled injury and health issues affecting their preparation.

Lucas Martin competed at the Caixa World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Brasilia and Jonathan Maples in Sydney at the Australian Championships. Both had major injury issues during preparation while Juliet McKinlay, also in Sydney, has struggled to recover from glandular fever at the start of this year.

Of the three, Martin was the only one to finish his event. He was 63rd in the half marathon race walk, clocking a personal best 1hr 46m 10s, beating fellow Kiwis New Zealand champion Jonah Cropp (64th) by just over a minute and Toby O’Rourke (70th) by six minutes. Martin, who missed the New Zealand Track and Field Championships while recovering from injury during his build-up, returns home rewarded for his careful and thorough preparation.

Maples has had a difficult 2026. Last November, he was in scintillating form and, with wins over 400m at the Potts Classic in mid-January and 400m hurdles at his home Pak’nSave Cooks Classic, looked set for an outstanding year.

However, a hamstring injury at the Capital Classic in Wellington meant four weeks of interrupted training which showed when he faded to fourth in the home straight in the New Zealand 400m championship.

Maples then had to manage a knee problem over the next month as he prepared for last weekend in Sydney. His build-up was promising and he qualified for the next round. He felt confident of clocking a fast time in the semi-final but pulled up with an injury in his other leg in the home straight while running comfortably in fourth. It was only slight consolation that fourth place finished over half a second inside Maples’ best. He will now have to wait until next year as he looks back on a frustrating season that had looked so promising.

Year 13 Whanganui Collegiate School boarder Juliet McKinlay, who trains in Palmerston North and Whanganui, has, like Maples, had a frustrating 2026.

Recovery from illness seriously hampered her build-up and, although she has shown glimpses of her potential with medals at the New Zealand and North Island champs, she has been unable to train consistently. She was in Sydney representing New Zealand Secondary Schools in the under-20 heptathlon. She struggled and did not finish the final 800m, having battled through the six earlier events. Again, she showed glimpses of form, notably with her 5.31m long jump.

The weekend events closed our season and the ranking tables in which McKinlay and Maples featured strongly.

McKinlay topped the rankings in six standard events (100m, 200m, 100m hurdles, long jump, shot and javelin). She shared the same 10.82m distance with Lulu Dufty in the triple jump but McKinlay’s jump was wind-assisted. Dufty was second in the long jump.

Maples topped our rankings in all sprints and the 400m hurdles, all with national class performances. Flynn Johnston, on a United States scholarship in South Dakota, finished second in both 400m hurdles and 400m after recent personal bests of 52.56s and 46.72s. We have real depth in 400m hurdles with NZ champion Damian Hodgson third in 400m hurdles and 400m rankings.

It is pleasing that former Whanganui athletes based overseas have kept their Whanganui Club affiliation. World steeplechase champion, Colorado-based Geordie Beamish, tops our steeplechase 3000m and 5000m rankings while Melbourne-based Brad Mathas tops the 800m (1m 47s) and is second to Liam Back (Providence, Rhode Island) in the 1500m. Los Angeles-based Lexi Maples tops the hammer rankings and also took silver at the New Zealand Championships.

Auguz Thongskul tops the long jump (6.62m) and is third over 100m (10.96s) while Isaac Ashworth, who finished second in the North Island intermediate boys, tops the javelin with an excellent 51.29m throw.

Hannah Byam is top in the steeplechase, 3000m, 1500m and 2km road race. Her training partner, Tilly Darke, tops the 800m, is second to Emma Osborne over 400m and third in the 300m hurdles, an event topped by Grace Fannin. The promising Olive Coombs heads the high jump (1.58m) and 80m hurdles (12.61s) and was second over 300m hurdles.

The ranking tables are published on the Athletics Whanganui website and provide feedback and motivation. It is pleasing to see so many younger athletes, such as Jaime Munro, Olive Coombs and Daniel Sherborne, appear in the senior rankings.