I was saddened by one report that suggested Zoe Hobbs had failed in the 100 metres by not progressing beyond the semi-final. I have a different view. She qualified for the semi-final setting a personal best, New Zealand and area record of 11.08 seconds. The semi-finals were contested by 24 athletes and Hobbs finished 14th of the 24 and although probably disappointed she could not replicate or improve on her heat performance, she has raised her own world ranking and improved on her ranking within the 100m entries at the championships. Hobbs is only 24 and has made a major breakthrough this year.
Hobbs was not the only younger athlete to shine in Eugene. Former World Junior Championship shot champion Maddison-Lee Wesche had finished 6th in the Olympics in Tokyo last year and backed this up with 7th in the final in Oregon. Although one place lower than at the Olympics, Wesche produced a personal best (19.50m) which betters her previous best by 40cm and betters her Olympic effort by more than half a metre. Wesche, at 23, was the youngest in the top eight (the bronze medal winner Jessica Schilder – Netherlands was also 23 but a few months younger). Schilder and Wesche look set for exciting battles in the years ahead.
Olivia McTaggart may have had no mark in the pole vault final but at 22 it is pleasing that she managed to negotiate the qualifying round to reach the final. Eddie Osei-Nketia, still only 21 years of age, finally broke his father's New Zealand record in the 100m heats (10.08) to qualify for the semi-final. Although he did not make the final it was pleasing to see another young New Zealand athlete making such progress.
Lauren Bruce, at 25 is young for an international hammer thrower, but will be desperately disappointed at missing the hammer final by one place and by 1cm. I am certain she will persevere and bounce back, with the Commonwealth Games providing an early opportunity to put disappointment behind her.
Tom Walsh, so often on the podium over the past eight years, especially at World Championships, came tantalisingly close to again mounting the podium but had to bow to three Americans at their home World Championships. He too has an immediate opportunity for success in Birmingham early next month.
Hamish Kerr, who in January set a third consecutive Cooks Gardens Stadium high jump record, went on to break his own New Zealand record. Kerr won a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in March. He narrowly missed making the final in Oregon and he too will have an early opportunity to again mount the medal podium in Birmingham.
My broken-down train is now crawling towards the Scottish border and I may get back in time to watch the 1500m final if not the Partick Thistle v Fraserburgh cup match I am due to attend with my brother. I look forward to Geordie Beamish, a former Whanganui athlete, making his outdoor World Championships debut. I, like the New Zealand athletes - especially those mentioned with an early chance of putting Oregon disappointment behind them - look forward to Birmingham.
I will take a final look at the World Championships next week as well as looking ahead to the New Zealand Cross Country to be run in Taupō next weekend before bringing updates from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in later articles.
Postscript: I finally reached Glasgow after nearly four hours on a replacement train in time to make the kick-off. It was the last train to reach Scotland on Tuesday as all further trains were cancelled because of the extreme heat.
PS: Partick Thistle won 2 -0, much to my brother's delight.
