D'Arcy Waldegrave: A golden age of athletics may be blossoming

Hamish Kerr and Geordie Beamish gave sports fans a reason to grin from ear-to-ear this week – two great New Zealanders making their mark on the global stage. In the 3000m steeplechase Geordie shook up the athletics world by mowing down double Olympic winner Soufiane El Bakkali, who was chasing his third consecutive global title. Hamish ladled cherries on his high jump cake, adding the World title to his Olympic title, the Diamond League title, Commonwealth title, and the World Indoor title. With the likes of Walsh, Tanner, Hobbs, Wesche, McTaggart, etc, up with the best in athletics world, a golden age may well be blossoming. John Stewart, former CEO of Athletics NZ told me over 20 years ago that the biggest issue the sport had wasn't lack of talent, it was lack of athletes. He said that they taught the kids how to run, jump and throw, but as they matured, they left for other sports that benefitted enormously from the base that athletics had given them. Olympic and World Championship success is the harbinger of continued participation in track and field. The thought of Kiwi athletes dominating the world stage was a pipe dream, aside the middle-distance glory days and the outrageous success of Val Adams, victory was a rare occurrence. These unicorns hardly stimulated the youth. Now though, the narrative isn’t how competing as a junior will set the youth up for careers in other sports, it’s about setting up the next generation for triumph at Olympic and World Championship level. Athletes like Kerr and Beamish have proven that we can compete with, and beat, the very best in truly global pursuits. Running, jumping and throwing doesn’t cost a heap, and there’s not a concussion in sight.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.