default-output-block.skip-main
Regional | Zoe Hobbs

Sprinter Zoe Hobbs breaks 11-second barrier in tailwind

Photo / Getty Images

By RNZ

Sprinter Zoe Hobbs has broken the 11-second barrier for the first time in her career but it will not be recorded as she had a tailwind at the New Zealand Track and Field Champs in Wellington.

She won the final of the 100m, clocking a sensational 10.89 seconds.

Hobbs broke her own New Zealand 100m record and Oceania record during her heat on Friday morning, with a time of 11.07 seconds.

She also banked an automatic entry standard time for the 2023 World Athletics Championships thanks to her time in the heat.

It was a brilliant display from the 25-year-old Taranaki-raised, Auckland-based sprinter who was competing in her first competition of the season.

"I was a little surprised coming back from injury as I had a little interruption, so I didn't expect to open the season that well, but they have been indicators in training. It was just a matter of putting it together in a race. To actually go out and run so well was awesome," Hobbs said.

"The performance in the heats gave me a boost of confidence and I thought I was capable because I finished that race just wanting to close the race down. It was running lose, so I knew I had a bit more to give in the final, I knew there was the capability for more."

Behind Hobbs, Rosie Elliott (Canterbury) recorded 11.36 for silver with Veronica Shanti Periera of Singapore in 11.44 crossing the line in third. Brooke Somerfield of Waikato Bay of Plenty (11.51) claimed the bronze.