KEY POINTS:
Former world discus champion Beatrice Faumuina showed she still has the ability to feature at Olympic level with an impressive series of throws at the national track and field championships here tonight.
Faumuina was under some pressure, having beaten the 61-metre A standard for the Beijing Olympics only once, about 14 months ago.
Throwing into a slight head wind at Mt Smart stadium late this evening, a focused Faumuina started in style, stretching the tape to a winning 61.73 metres in the opening round.
"It's probably the best I've done for a couple of years," Faumuina said of the series, which saw her go over 60 metres on three occasions.
A raft of technical changes, begun barely two months ago, paid dividends in consistency for Faumuina, although she was adamant afterwards that there was plenty of room for improvement, and none for complacency.
Her effort tonight would have secured her a top-eight place at last year's world athletics championships in Osaka, but Faumuina said she would need to reach out towards her 68.52m winning effort in 1997 if she wanted a similar position in Beijing in August.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nick Willis, scheduled to contest the heats of the men's 1500m today, got an unexpected night off, with the race being run as a straight final tomorrow.
- NZPA
