Hobbs breaks 11 seconds barrier

Zoe Hobbs on her way to victory in Sydney
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Sprinter Zoe Hobbs has officially become the first New Zealand woman to run under 11 seconds for the 100 metres.

Hobbs created history at the Sydney Track Classic by running 10.97 to scalp one tenth of a second from her Oceania women’s 100m record with an exhilarating performance.

Just eight days ago, the 25-year-old Taranaki-raised and Auckland-based sprinter lit up the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Wellington by trimming 0.01 from her Oceania record, running 11.07 in the heats before following up with an illegal wind assisted 10.89 in the final.

However Saturday night in ideal conditions at Sydney Olympic Park, she turned on an astonishing demonstration of sprinting excellence to join a very exclusive sub-11-second club, the hallmark of world-class sprinting.

Hobbs flashed across the line in an Australian allcomers record of 10.97 – way clear of the cream of Australian sprinting with teenager Torrie Lewis in second (11.23) ahead of her compatriot Bree Masters (11.38).

An ecstatic Hobbs said of joining the sub-11-second club: “It feels so good. I had a little bit of a shock at the end of the race, when I saw 10.99 flash up (this was later rounded down to 10.97) and I started celebrating and then I thought, no, wait for the wind. When I heard the time and the wind was legal, I was absolutely stoked to finally dip under the 11-second mark legally.”

The Commonwealth Games 100m finalist admits the expectation following her stupendous performance in Wellington last week led to some pre-race nerves. She tried to relax by watching Drive to Survive on Netflix and was also unsuccessful in taking an afternoon nap with Zoe adding: “I was in overdrive. I was quite alert today. I felt I was still recovering a bit from the emotional high of nationals. I woke up on Monday not feeling that great but thankfully I was able to execute today.

“I managed to get a good start and considering the pressure I felt, I’m stoked with the performance.”

The world leader in the 100m will now move on to her next assignment in her adopted home city of Auckland at the Sir Graeme Douglas International on Thursday (16 March) buoyed full of confidence.

“To give it some context, I’m sure that time would have been quick enough to have made the Olympic women’s 100m final in Tokyo (the time would have advanced her sixth fastest to the final). There wasn’t much wind out there tonight, which is similar to what you get in big stadium. When you reframe it in that context, it is pretty wild, and to do it in my third race of the season is crazy.”

She later anchored a New Zealand A team – also including Brooke Somerfield, Portia Bing and Anna Percy – to second in the women’s 4x100m team, clocking 44.59. The Australian A team won in a slick 43.25.