Athletics: Track star on marks for 800m

By MURRAY McKINNON

Toni Hodgkinson moves down in distance to the 800m tonight at Massey Park, Papakura, in her second Olympic qualifying bid within a week.

Hodgkinson will have the competition at the third and final Marley Games meet to not only run the 2m 00.5s qualifying time but also break the two-minute barrier.

Tamsyn Lewis of Australia is in the best shape of her career, having broken two minutes this month in Canberra and on Saturday in Wanganui running a Sydney qualifying 400m in a personal best 51.98s.

Tina Paulino of Mozambique, who just edged out Hodgkinson over 800m in Christchurch, said yesterday that a time of 2m 2s would not be fast enough to win the race this time.

Hodgkinson said she had recovered well from her New Zealand resident 1500m record at Wanganui.

"That win shows I'm in good shape and have good endurance. I'm as strong as I've been all season and the speed will develop over the rest of the season."

There is also considerable interest in Shaun Farrell's return match with Australia's Kris McCarthy over 800m. Farrell is keen to avenge his defeat at the hands of McCarthy on Saturday, and has an Olympic target time of 1m 46.30s.

Mark Rodgers of Christchurch, who went close to beating Farrell in the first Marley Games, sharpened up for his return to the 800m, running the 400m in Wanganui in 48.14s.

There will be another race within the 800m between juniors Jason Stewart of Napier and Ben Ruthe of Wellington. Ruthe set a New Zealand under-20 record of 1m 48.95s in Christchurch while Stewart ran 1m 49.60s in Wanganui. The clash of these two could see the national record lowered further.

Discus throwers Ian Winchester and Beatrice Faumuina will be looking for plenty of crowd support in their respective discus-throwing events. Winchester, having thrown 60.79m this season, will be eyeing the Olympic qualifying distance of 63.50m while Faumuina, who has already reached the Games standard, will be looking to improve on her 61.71m distance in Wanganui.

Chris Donaldson has an appointment in the 100m with Gus Nketia which should produce a fast time if the conditions are ideal. Donaldson, aiming for the Olympic target of 10.25s, will have added competition from Australia's David Baxter, who is expected to improve on his 10.62s performance in Wanganui. Donaldson will later line up in the 200m against Jake Jensen of America and Paul Pearce of Australia.

Phil Clode has victories in the 1500m in Christchurch and the mile in Wanganui to his credit, and has his sights set on the Olympic 5000m standard of 13m 27s. Making his first appearance will be Robbie Johnston, always a gritty 5000m runner and with a best of 13m 20.15s. He should produce a close race against Clode.

American Bryan Berryhill fronts up in the 1500m ready for the up-and-coming New Zealand trio of Adrian Blincoe, Stephen Willis and Simon Maunder.