Athletics: More athletes coming to Dunedin

Camille Buscomb
Camille Buscomb
Three more of New Zealand's best athletes have confirmed they will compete at the national track and field championships in Dunedin next month.

Shot put ace Tom Walsh, middle distance runner Angie Petty and 5000m and 10,000m specialist Camille Buscomb will all compete at the Caledonian Ground from March 3-5.

They will join two-time Olympic shot put gold medallist Valerie Adams, whose manager, Nick Cowan, last week confirmed she would compete in Dunedin.

While 1500m specialist Nick Willis will not compete in the championships, news that at least four of the country's best athletes will be in town is sure to generate excitement.

There were fears the country's top athletes would flag the event to chase stiffer competition last July, when Athletics Australia announced it would hold the Melbourne world challenge the same weekend.

But a favourable schedule means Walsh (23) will be able to compete at both. The South Cantabrian will compete in the men's shot put on March 4 (Friday), before flying to Melbourne that night to compete in Melbourne the following day.

‘‘It works out really well to let me get in two competitions in two days,'' Walsh said.

‘‘The last time I did that, I threw a PB.

‘‘It challenges you mentally a little bit, but physically it shouldn't really take too much off.

Tom Walsh
Tom Walsh
At the end of the day, you're just sitting there in a plane seat.''

Walsh, who finished fourth at the world championships in Beijing last year, has won the national senior men's shot put title the past six years, including in Dunedin in 2011.

He last competed in Dunedin at the 2014 South Island championships, when he used the early-season meet to compete in the discus.

Walsh has been mixing training with his building job in Christchurch during the summer, and is confident he is in good shape for a big season.

His first competition of the year will be at the Big Shot in Christchurch on Monday, which will see him go head to head with rival Jacko Gill.

He will then compete in the Auckland Track Challenge on February 25.

After competing in Melbourne, he will head to the United States for the world indoor championships in Portland in late March.

‘‘I'm not just purely looking at the Olympics,'' Walsh said.

‘‘It is on the back of my mind and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about it, but most of my thought is leading into nationals and world indoors. It's a little distraction, which is quite nice.''

Like Walsh, Petty has already qualified for August's Rio Olympics in the 800m.

She said she would enter the 800m and 1500m in Dunedin.

Petty (24), of Christchurch, did the double in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and won the 800m at last year's nationals.

She finished fifth at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and her personal-best over 800m (1min 59.06sec) netted her a gold medal at last year's World University Games in South Korea.

The 800m heats will be held on the first of three days of competition in Dunedin.

The 1500m heats will be raced on the Saturday, followed by the finals the next day. Buscomb (25), of Hamilton, will line up against Petty in the 1500m, and will also compete in the 5000m.

The 5000m is her preferred event, for which she is still chasing Olympic qualification.

She won the national 5000m title the past two years and has also notched 3000m and 10km titles in the past.

The women's 5000m will be raced on day one of the championships.

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