Athletics: Sprint record for Donaldson

By Murray McKinnon

Chris Donaldson was in record breaking form on the first night of the national athletics championships in Hamilton last night winning the 100m sprint crown in a New Zealand residents' record of 10.27s.

Donaldson who has footed it in recent weeks with world class sprinter Frankie Fredericks, showed his class in a superb display over the final 40m to defeat four-times national champion Gus Nketia.

Donaldson said he was struggling for motivation before the heats earlier in the evening, but a pep talk from coach Brent Ward got him going and he came through in 10.50s.

In the final he faced strong competition from Nketia and Wellington's Donald MacDonald. Nketia got a flying start and was still leading with 50m to go but Donaldson moved into another gear and was a clear winner breaking Nketia's residents' record of 10.30s.

"It was a very good time into a headwind and on a wet track. I should be doing this at this time of the season as I am peaking for the world indoor championships next week in Japan and then the Australian championships," said Donaldson.

For Nketia, his 10.32s was his quickest for some time and he put it down to the competition. "I have given him the record for the rest of the season but don't worry I will be back next season to get it back," he said.

Meanwhile, Beatrice Faumuina was back in winning form after a five-month lay-off recovering from a back injury, claiming the shotput with a final round effort of 16.27m.

Tania Lutton-Senior led from the first round with her season's best 16.05m, but Faumuina, who described it as the toughest shotput competition she had ever had,
came back to claim the title for the third year running.

"I just went out there to enjoy it tonight but I am really nervous about the discus competition tomorrow night," she said. The championships continue today and tomorrow.