New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Six New Zealand athletes hope to provide a fitting finale to their respective seasons by competing in the season-ending Diamond League Final in Oregon this weekend.
It is a record number of Kiwis to compete in the Diamond League Final.
Athletes qualify for the final - which offers a lucrative first prize of $50,000 for each Diamond League winner in Eugene - by achieving points throughout the course of the 2023 Diamond League season.
Leading the New Zealand challenge is Tom Walsh, a three-time former Diamond League men's shot put champion.
The 31-year-old Christchurch-based thrower has enjoyed an excellent season on the Diamond League circuit and topped the qualifiers into the final with a total of 27 pts after earning podium finishes in Florence, Lausanne, Silesia and London.
Zoe Hobbs. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
In the latter competition, Walsh posted his longest throw for four years with 22.58m and as he showed with a 22.46m throw in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend he is in excellent form leading into his final event of the season.
He will face a challenge from the World and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser. Also competing are the World Championship silver and bronze medallists Leonardo Fabbri of Italy and Joe Kovacs of the USA.
Hamish Kerr qualified an impressive third into the men's high jump final aided by victory in the Stockholm Diamond League and boosted by placing second thanks to his huge 2.33m clearance - the second best jump of his career - in his most recent Diamond League appearance in Zurich.
Among his chief opposition will be 2023 World Championships silver medallist JuVaughn Harrison of the US and World Indoor champion Sanghyeok Woo of South Korea.
George Beamish was one of New Zealand's star performers at the World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth in the men's 3000m steeplechase final in what was only his eighth senior race over the barriers, and the US-based athlete will get another opportunity to take on the world's best in Eugene.
Beamish, who lowered the 39-year-old national steeplechase record with a time of 8:13.26 when fifth at the Monaco Diamond League, faces a stellar field, which includes World and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco.
Papamoa-based Sam Tanner takes to the track in the men's mile. The 23-year-old World Championship semi-finalist placed an impressive fifth in the 1500m at both the Lausanne and Silesia Diamond Leagues - setting a PB of 3:31.24 in the latter event.
New Zealand javelin thrower Tori Peeters Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Zoe Hobbs has raced in five Diamond League 100m races this season earning a best position of fourth last weekend in Brussels - her most recent outing on the star-studded one-day circuit.
Among her main opposition in a mouthwatering race will be World champion Sha'Carri Richardson of the US, world 100m silver medallist Shericka Jackson and her fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, the Olympic 100m champion.
Javelin thrower Tori Peeters set a national record of 63.26m in Yokohama in May and claimed her maiden Diamond League podium when third in Silesia. World champion Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan will be among the lead contenders.
