The event’s star is undoubtedly Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis, who has publicly stated his goal in Delhi this year is to not only defend his Commonwealth 1500m crown, but to emulate the legendary Peter Snell and add the 800m crown as well.  [Snell won the imperial equivalents, the half-mile and mile, at the Empire Games in Perth in 1962].

Aiming to throw a spanner in the works at Willis’ home track meet will be top Australians Jeff Riseley and Jeremy Roff, who unexpectedly claimed the scalps of Willis and Kenya’s Olympic gold medallist Asbel Kiprop in the 1500m race at the Melbourne Grand Prix 10 days ago.  Willis said when he flew into Christchurch today “That was a bit of a shock – I’ll definitely be out for some revenge on Thursday”. With Irish 800-1500 champion David Campbell, 4-times Australian champion Nick Bromley, and Canadian Geoff Harris also in the field, there are six athletes with personal bests of 1min47sec or faster – the strongest field since Auckland 1990, when British middle distance legend Sebastian Coe, in the twilight of his career, finished 6^th in 1min47.24s. 

Meet Director Craig Motley said “This is a phenomenal field to come together for a meet of this scale, and we are expecting to see some pretty fast times”.  Willis and Riseley in particular should be very evenly matched – their personal bests are just 6/100ths of a second different from each other, and both are just over a second outside Peter Snell’s New Zealand record, set when he smashed the world record at Lancaster Park in 1962. 

Also competing in the discus event at the meet will be former world champion and twice Commonwealth champion Beatrice Faumuina, against the current world champion Dani Samuels.

Tickets are on sale at QEII Stadium now, and at the gate on the night. Adults are $12, children 12 & under $6, and under-5's are free.  Premium allocated Gold Seating is $20.  The international section of the programme starts at 6.30pm - go to www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz for more details.

New Zealand vs Australia Race Walking Test Announced

New Zealand will compete against international race walking powerhouse Australia in a Test Match in Hobart early next year.

The Test Match will see up to four male and four female competitors from each contry race over 20km on 13 February.

A trial to select the team will be held at Douglas Track in Waitakere on 10 January. The winners and runners-up in both the mens and women's competitions in the trial will be automatic selections, while the next finishers will be subject to a qualifying time to make the team, 1hr 50min for men and 2hr 8min for women.

In announcing the match, Athletics New Zealand's Sport Manager Brett Addison said, "This competition is long overdue, with twenty eight years since the last New Zealand vs Australia teams race walking competition. It's a fantastic concept and we have been fortunate that Mike Parker and David Lonsdale of Race Walking New Zealand have done so much work setting up the test match."

Parker said "The most significant thing about this forthcoming Oceania Race Walking Trophy is that it is the first time for sixteen years that New Zealand race walkers will have the opportunity to compete as a team in some form of international competition. This can only improve the standard of our best walkers, athletes who might not be able to aspire to higher levels of competition.

"Such an event as this one, held bi annually might just provide the impetus for one or two of them to make the break through to that next level. We have had years where only our elite NZ walkers, and they come along so rarely, are able to aspire to Olympic and Commonwealth Games selection. This competition is all about making an initial step towards bridging the international gap and improving our overall standard along the way."

Click here for details of selection criteria 

Brett Addison
Sport Manager
Athletics New Zealand

Premiership Updated @ 8 December: 

1. Gavin Stevens 117pts 
2. Mike Aish 98pts 
3. Dale Warrender 91pts 
4. Matt Dravitski 85pts 
5. Sam Wreford 83pts 
6. Rowan Hooper 72pts 
7. Scott Winton 57pts
8. Jon-Paul Hendriksen 55pts
9. Glynn Hadley 54pts
10. Grant McLean 53pts
11. Graeme Taylor 21pts

1.  Aish, Mike 2:15.43 Rock n Roll Phoenix 18/01/2009 
2.  Smith, Matt 2:16.48 Gold Coast 5/07/2009 
3.  Aish, Mike 2:18.18 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
4.  Warrander, Dale 2:18.26 Beppu 2/02/2009 
5.  Costley, Phil 2:20.31 Buller 14/02/2009 
6.  Dravitski, Matt 2:20.45 Southland 22/11/2009
7.  Warrender, Dale 2:22.54 New Plymouth 7/3/2009 
8.  Wreford, Sam 2:23.11 Akld Legend 19/09/2009 
9.  Dravitski, Matt 2:23.40 Rock n Roll Phoenix 18/01/2009 
10. Winton, Scott 2:23.46 Gold Coast 5/07/2009 
11. Wreford, Sam 2:23.52 Buller 14/02/2009 
12. Hooper, Rowan 2:24.00 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
13. Winton, Scott 2:27.14 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
14. O'Callaghan, Stephen 2:27.20 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
15. McDonald, Iain 2:29.00 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
16. Ruthe, Ben 2:29.25 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
17. Parsons, Dave 2:30.12 Southland 22/11/2009
18. Hendriksen, Jon-Paul 2:31:27 Lubeck 25/10/2009 
19. Hooper, Rowan 2:31.44 Auckland 3/11/2009 
20. Stevens, Gavin 2:32.06 London 26/04/2009 
21. Stevens, Gavin 2:32.16 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
22. Hadley, Glynn 2:32.37 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
23. Mardon, Simon 2:33.13 Buller 14/02/2009 
24. Stevens, Gavin, 2:34.22 Southland 22/11/2009
25. McLean, Grant 2:34.39 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
26. Hadley, Glynn 2:34.58 Auckland 3/11/2009
27. Clendon, Daniel 2:35.52 Gold Coast 5/07/2009 
28. Paterson, Glenn 2:36.42 New Plymouth 7/03/2009 
29. Bailey, Adrian 2:36.42 Christchurch 31/05/2009
30. Hendriksen, Jon-Paul 2:36:43 Regensburg 24/5/2009 
31. McLean, Grant 2:36.54 Wellington 28/06/2009 
32. Winton, Scott 2:36.55 Akld Legend 19/09/2009 
33. Pugh, Michael 2:36.56 Southland 22/11/2009
34. Healey, Jon 2:36.59 Southland 22/11/2009
35. Stevens, Gavin 2:37.18 Auckland 3/11/2009
36. Taylor, Graeme 2:37.23 Auckland 3/11/2009
37. Kilding, Andrew 2:37.26 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
38. Stevens, Gavin 2:37.28 Perth 30/08/2009 
39. Kuegler, James 2:37.52 Auckland 3/11/2009
40. King, Dave 2:38.27 Southland 22/11/2009
41. Boyle, Granantan 2:38.57 Southland 22/11/2009
42. Murray, Phil 2:38.38 Auckland 3/11/2009
43. Davies, Mary 2:38.48 Berlin 23/08/2009 
44. McLean, Grant 2:38.50 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
45. Taylor, Graeme 2:38.57 Christchurch 31/05/2009 
46. McIntrye, Ross 2:39.19 Hastings 22/08/2009 
47. Edwards, Bruce 2:39.21 New Plymouth 7/03/2009 
48. Hinde, Corey 2:39.43 Rotorua 2/05/2009 
49. Docherty, Fiona 2:40.18 Berlin 23/08/2009 
50. Gutsell, Ricky 2:40.56 Southland 22/11/2009

 2010 International Track Meet

Track and Field at its best in New Zealand.

2010 Promo video compiled from Sky TV coverage highlights from the inaugural 2009 ITM where Monique Williams claimed the NZ Resident Women's 200m record, David Ambler eclipsed Jamacian Don Quarrie's Men's 100m stadium record set at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and lowered his U/19 NZ record while Australian Ryan Gregson reclaimed his Australian U/19 3000m record.

Make sure you are there on the 18th March 2010.

www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz