Athletics: Potts makes it a double double

By MURRAY McKINNON

Richard Potts created a piece of New Zealand athletics history in becoming the first runner to claim a double double, winning the 5000m and 10,000m titles in consecutive years.

At the national championships in Wanganui, Potts won the 10,000m in his fastest track time of 29m 19.12s, adding it to the 5000m won a fortnight ago in Christchurch.

The only other athletes to win the double in the same season have been Rod Dixon in 1981 and Harold Nelson in 1948, but they did not repeat the performance the next year.

Potts, of Hastings, applied the pressure over the second half of the race to break clear of American Olympic Games marathon prospect Gary Giffen.

His winning margin over Giffen was 9s, with Alastair Snowden, of Taranaki, third in 30m 4.29s.

Otago's Shireen Crumpton outsprinted Gabrielle O'Rourke, Wellington, to win her first national title, the 10,000m.

With three laps remaining of the 25-lap journey, Crumpton increased the pace to drop Melissa Moon. O'Rourke held her place but was unable to match Crumpton's sprint over the final 200m.

Crumpton recorded 34m 26.67s, just under 2s ahead of O'Rourke, with Moon third.

Nyla Carroll, having her first race since coming back from injury, was fourth in 36m 31.11s.

Joanne Henry made it title No 8 in the women's heptathlon, but still has plenty of work ahead of her to make the Sydney Olympics. Henry had a great battle with Anita Sutherland, of Otago, before pulling clear after the long jump and javelin.

Henry paced herself through the 800m to win with a total points score of 4198, well short of the Olympic target of 6100.

Sutherland, who surprised herself by leading the Counties Manukau-based Henry after day one, achieved her best score of 5043 for second, with Bridgette Pateman, of Canterbury, also going over 5000 points for third.

Doug Pirini withdrew from the decathlon after the discus, leaving the way for defending champion Gene Pateman, of Counties Manukau, to battle out the title with Sean Gourley, of Canterbury.

Gourley pulled out all stops in the pole vault, javelin and 1500m to clinch the title with 6639 points, 122 better than Pateman.

Ryo Kobayashi, a member of a visiting Japanese decathlon development squad, won the event with 6863 points.