Athletics: Speed work key as Robinson works towards World Cup

Dunedin race walker Roseanne Robinson (Hill City) gave up the chance of competing for New Zealand in the transtasman test at Auckland today to develop her speed.

Robinson (19), a second year physical education student at the University of Otago, will compete instead in the Otago championship 3km walk at the Caledonian Ground this afternoon.

Her decision not to compete at Auckland is understandable because Robinson has qualified to represent New Zealand in the junior 10km at the World Cup in Mexico in May.

"I have not done a lot of speed work and need to walk in more 3km and 5km walks on the track to improve my speed for the World Cup," she told the Otago Daily Times.

Robinson competed for New Zealand in the transtasman walking test against Australia in Hobart last weekend.

She finished seventh in the women's open event over 20km in a personal best time of 1hr 51min 24sec and was the third under-23 walker to complete the course.

Her main target was to walk a fast time to the 10km mark to qualify for the World Cup, which she did in style, when she was clocked at 52min.

It was the third time she had beaten the qualifying standard of 55min this season. Robinson walked 52min 6sec at Christchurch in December and 53min 20sec at the New Zealand trials at Auckland last month.

Robinson was 14 when she started race walking in Whangamata and finished fourth in the North Island secondary schools championships.

She has made rapid progress since being coached by Christchurch walking specialist John Henderson and proved it last year by winning three medals at the New Zealand championships.

Robinson won gold medals in the women's 19-and-under 3km track walk and the 5km road walk and a silver medal in the 10km walk.

The other athlete to watch at the Otago championships this weekend is John Gilmour (Hill City), who won the New Zealand junior men's decathlon title with a personal best score of 5162 points at Hamilton this month.

The first of the two-day Otago championships will be held this afternoon and the second day will be tomorrow morning at the Caledonian Ground.