New Zealand's fastest woman Zoe Hobbs. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand's fastest woman Zoe Hobbs. Photo / Photosport
For as long as she can remember, Zoe Hobbs has had a singular sporting ambition.
Even when she was a kid bounding down grass tracks in Taranaki, Hobbs dreamed of one day competing at the Olympic Games.
On Monday morning, New Zealand’s fastest woman took a massive step towards thatlifelong goal with a sizzling 100-metre run in Switzerland.
Needing to run a time of 11.07 seconds to automatically qualify for the Paris Games next year, Hobbs stopped the clock at 10.96 in her heat at the Resisprint International, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger level event, before going on to win the final in 11.13.
On the second day of the Olympic qualification window, the time was a new personal best for the 25-year-old, beating the 10.97 she recorded in Sydney in March.
It resets her own national mark and is also an Australasian record.
It means that Hobbs can start planning for Paris. She was overlooked for Tokyo - in a decision that is still hard to understand - but can’t miss out this time. Her selection will still need to be officially ratified by the New Zealand Olympic Committee, but that isn’t in question.
It was an unlikely setting for such a momentous occasion, at a modest meet (the fourth tier of the tour) in a small Swiss city close to the French border.
Hobbs had chosen to run there as it was a short hop from Saturday’s Diamond League meet in Lausanne and a chance to bank a time early in the qualification window. The city is also located around 990 metres above sea level, which can assist the pursuit of swift times.
It all worked out perfectly, despite unseasonably chilly conditions.
New Zealand sprinter Zoe Hobbs, pictured after winning the women's 100m at the 2023 Sydney Track Classic athletics event on March 11, 2023. Photo / Mark Evans, www.photosport.nz
“When I saw the time come up, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think I would run that time, especially given the conditions,” said Hobbs. “It was 15C at the time of that race, with a 20-minute delay leading into the start. The wind was all over the shop with head and tailwinds. I thought maybe [there was] a chance of doing the qualifier, but definitely not a PB [personal best]. It was a bit of a shock when I saw what the time was.”
Hobbs couldn’t disguise her delight at sealing her Olympics passage in what has already been a monumental year, with a series of sub-11-second runs and two Diamond League appearances.
“I’m absolutely stoked to have done the qualifier time early,” said Hobbs. “It takes a massive weight off my shoulders and makes a big difference leading into the rest of the season. I don’t have to chase the time now. I can focus on what I need to in the lead-up to the world champs.”
Hobbs’ trajectory over the last two years has been remarkable.
Her personal best at the end of 2021 was 11.27, but she beat that mark on 16 separate occasions last year on the way to a new fastest time of 11.08.
In March, she cracked the sub-11 mark at the Sydney Track Classic, saying at the time it was the “gold standard” in her event, and Hobbs has been remarkably consistent since in performances across three continents.
In an event of the finest margins, Hobbs, who always gives credit to coach James Mortimer and the “epic team” around her, keeps finding fractional gains.
“It’s been a consistent build each year, year after year,” Hobbs told the Herald earlier this year. “Re-identifying the new areas that I want to work on and having the drive and determination to get there, and being willing to sacrifice things along the way to help me get there with a great team around me.”
Hobbs has been thriving on the opportunities and exposure beyond Australasia in 2023, with events in Doha, Yokohama, Nairobi and Lausanne so far offering her the chance to test herself against strong fields.
Historically, Hobbs seems to thrive on the big occasions - often recording season or personal best times when it matters - which bodes well for the future.
But whatever happens, the chance to run in Paris next year will be forever cherished.
“I’ve always just wanted to make an Olympics,” Hobbs told the Herald in March, when asked what kept her going through years of dedication and sacrifice. “I’ve done this sport as a young girl and started when I was 5. I’ve done sport in general my whole life - it’s been a big part of my life - and I have always had the desire and the goal to make the Olympics. That has been enough for me to stick at it. I know there is a talent there, and it would just be a complete waste if I didn’t maximise that.”
Hobbs will become the first Kiwi female to compete in the Games’ blue riband event since Sue Jowett in 1976 in Montreal. Norma Marsh (nee Wilson) was the sprint pioneer in 1928 in Amsterdam.
Ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest from August 19-27, it’s believed that Hobbs could compete in two more Diamond League events - most likely Silesia (Poland) and London, given the dates - though she has yet to officially confirm her schedule.
