Athletics: Vili cruises to victory in Sydney

SYDNEY - Valerie Vili's preparations for the athletics world indoor championships continue to progress smoothly after the New Zealand Olympic and world shot put champion achieved a minor milestone at the Sydney Track Classic last night.

Vili predictably met no genuine opposition, winning by more than 4m with a meet record distance of 20.57m - her best throw of the year.

The New Zealander bettered her own mark in Sydney by 48cm to eclipse the 20.25m she recorded at Hamilton on February 13 - her first hit out of 2010.

Vili's closest challenger was Australian Joanne Mirtschin who ended with a best of 15.99m.

"There is nobody to chase here but you want to put on a good show for the crowd so I'm pretty happy," said Vili, who also competes in Melbourne on Thursday ahead of the world indoors at Doha, Qatar, from March 12-14.

There she will renew her long-standing rivalry with Belorussian Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who leads the world indoor rankings with her put of 21.70m earlier this month.

Meanwhile, javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar (79.80m) was third in his event behind 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki of Finland (84.64). James Dolphin was fourth in the 200m.

- NZPA