Athletics: Zoe Hobbs racing ever closer to Commonwealth Games qualification

Zoe Hobbs has her eyes on earning selection for the Commonwealth Games. Photo / Getty

Zoe Hobbs didn't receive the news she had hoped to hear during a nervous wait on the Hastings track yesterday.

But the Kiwi sprinter is confident she will have plenty more opportunities to again crack the all-important 11.15-second mark - without the aid of a friendly tailwind.

Hobbs lowered her own 100m national record in the heats at the Potts Classic on Saturday and it looked like she had enjoyed the perfect meet when her time in the final flashed across the scoreboard.

But after beating her heat time of 11.21s with a blistering 11.14s to win the final, Hobbs learnt after an agonising wait that her time wouldn't stand due to an illegal wind level of 2.2 metres per second.

"It's bittersweet," the 24-year-old told Newstalk ZB. "We were waiting for ages after, just all standing around, because we hadn't actually heard over the loudspeaker what the wind was.
"You can luck it sometimes and other times you get unlucky. And that's partly why I went hard in the heat because you never know what you're going to get.

"But it does give me a bit of boost of confidence. I've been trying to aim for this time for a couple of years now, so to finally hit that mark is a nice feeling."

That 11.15s mark is one Hobbs will need to cross twice - without the wind - to be selected for the Commonwealth Games in six months.

But having been disappointed to be overlooked for Olympic selection last year, saying it unnecessarily limited her international exposure and increased the financial stress, Hobbs wants to be certain of booking her ticket to Birmingham by running 11.10s.

And the Auckland-based sprinter thinks she can do exactly that, continuing to improve after first breaking the national record with a time of 11.27s at Mt Smart Stadium in December.

"The plan is to gradually get better throughout the season - I didn't want to peak back in December," Hobbs said. "Hopefully throughout the rest of the season I keep consistent or continue to drop the times.

"Back in December I was coming out of a heavy gym phase, so to run the record then was a little bit of a shock. I'm more fresh now, coming off that heavy phase."

Hobbs' next chance to crack the qualifying standard will come in two weeks at the Capital Classic, before she runs at the Sir Graeme Douglas International in Auckland at the end of February.

She will then compete at the New Zealand national championships in March and, border restrictions permitting, the Australian championships in April, giving her a handful of opportunities to achieve the twin aims of the World Championships in Oregon and Commonwealth Games.

"The goal is obviously to run the 11.15 for world champs, but to give me a better chance to be selected for Commonwealth Games I'd have to run an 11.1," Hobbs said.

"But I'm very happy with how it played out [on Saturday] and to do the time I did in the final - even though it was illegal - I'm stoked with that.

"It was a nice feeling to allow me to know I can run that time and run that fast."