The track and field season starts at the Caledonian Ground tomorrow and will reach its climax when the national championships, which double as an Olympic qualifier, are held in Dunedin in March. While some Kiwis have already met Athletics New Zealand's notoriously tough qualifying standards for next year's Rio Olympics, many hopefuls are still battling. Sports reporter Robert van Royen takes a look at the standards.
Qualification period
Relays, decathlon, heptathlon, 10,000m, marathons, 20km and 50km walk: January 1, 2015 - July 11, 2016.
All other events: May 1, 2015 - July 11, 2016
How it works
Meeting the qualifying standards set by Athletics New Zealand does not guarantee an athlete will be picked in the New Zealand team to compete in Rio. If an athlete meets the standards, the nomination panel will provide the Athletics NZ board with his or her details.
It is then up to the New Zealand Olympic Committee's selection panel to decide whether or not to select the athlete.
When deciding whether an athlete is up to scratch, the panel will firstly nominate athletes who achieve an A qualifier and win the senior men's or women's title at the national track and field championships in Dunedin in March, or the national combined events championships in Wanganui in February.
It will then look at athletes who achieved one A qualifier during the qualification period, athletes who have not previously represented a national senior team and achieved a B qualifier, and athletes who have represented a national senior team and achieved two B qualifiers.
The panel will also consider athletes who did not achieve an A qualifier in Dunedin, Wanganui or during the qualification period due to exceptional circumstances such as injury/illness, family bereavements or unfavourable conditions when in peak form.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee sent 184 competitors - 97 men and 87 women - to the 2012 London Olympics to compete in 16 sports.
However, only eight of those - four men and four women - participated in athletics.
Road to Rio
• Athletes who have already achieved an A qualifier: Zane Robertson (10,000m), Nikki Hamblin (1500m), Tom Walsh (shot put), Nick Willis (1500m), Valerie Adams (shot put), Angela Petty (800m)
• Athletes who have already achieved at least one B qualifier: Nikki Hamblin (5000m), Quentin Rew (50km and 20km walk), Michael Cochrane (400m hurdles)
Notable changes
in (A) qualifying standards from London 2012:
• Men's decathlon: Was 8050, now 8140
• Men's 400m hurdle: Was 45.55sec, now 49.40sec
• Men's 1500m: Was 3min 35.50sec, now 3min 36sec
• Women's shot put: Was 18.35m, now 18.50m
• Women's 1500m: Was 4min 7sec, now 4min 5.60sec
• Women's marathon: Was 2hr 32min, now 2hr 27min
• Women's 100m hurdle: Was 12.96sec, now 12.95sec
• Women's heptathlon: Was 6050, now 6200
How some of Otago's best track and field athletes stack up
Tori Peeters (21) is the national javelin champion and record-holder (55.14m). She finished sixth at the World University Games in South Korea with a 55m throw in July, but is still more than 6m from cracking a New Zealand B standard.
Andrew Whyte (21) is a member of the national 4x400m relay team, and is one of 24 Kiwis to have already met the individual relay performance standard to be considered for Rio selection. Whyte set the Otago 400m record (47.15sec) in Timaru in January, the third-fastest 400m time in New Zealand history.
Daniel O'Shea (26) has also done enough to meet the individual relay performance standard to be considered for Rio. O'Shea, who is also a member of the national 4x400m relay team, clocked 47.38sec in Hamilton in February. He has also met the performance standard for the 4x100m relay, after recording a 10.73sec 100m in Auckland in February.
Ben Anderson (23) has run the third-fastest 800m (1min 49.30sec) by a Kiwi this year. He clocked that at the Australian national championships in Brisbane in March, but is still a fair way from the New Zealand A standard (1min 45.80sec).
Caden Shields (27) finished fourth at the national 10,000m championships in Auckland in January in 31min 18.46sec, the sixth-fastest time by a Kiwi this year. His personal best over 10,000m is 29min 56.57sec, still about 2min from the New Zealand A standard.
Christina Ashton (17) is one of the best young short hurdlers in the country. The Queen's High School pupil has won a raft of medals at youth and junior level and is one to watch out for in the future. She finished second in the 100m hurdles at the Australian junior championships in March. Her 14.32sec time is the sixth-fastest time by a Kiwi this year, and is 1.37sec off a New Zealand A standard.
Danica Davies (18) is the national junior heptathlon champion. She set a personal-best 4602 at an invitational competition in the United States in April, but is still about 1600 points short of an New Zealand A standard score.
