Sprinter going places fast

New Zealand’s top male sprinter Tiaan Whelpton had a close-up look at the standard he aspires to reach – and it’s fair to say he’s far from discouraged. By Marc Hinton.

Bigger, better, bolder. New Zealand’s top male sprinter, Tiaan Whelpton, has had a close-up look at the standard he aspires to reach, and it’s fair to say he’s far from discouraged.

Last Sunday in Yokohama, just outside of Tokyo, Whelpton had what you might call a redletter day in his career. He twice went to head-to-head with USA world champion Fred Kerley over 100 metres, set two PBs, made the final of a gold-level meet, fulfilled his condition for a spot at the world championships, and walked away with renewed faith in the pathway he’s on as he works towards becoming one of the leading sprinters on the planet.

Job done? Nowhere near it, Whelpton tells the Sunday StarTimes as he breaks down a day in which he ran 10.15 seconds to finish fourth in his heat (behind Kerley’s meet record 9.88sec), and then 10.14sec to run home fifth in the final, where just four hundreths of a second separated second from his own finishing spot.

Kerley, incidentally, ran 9.91sec in the final to cruise to victory.

Whelpton, the 23-year-old Christchurch-based, South Africa-born athlete, reflected with plenty of satisfaction on his whirlwind trip to Japan – he was a late callup to the meet and it caught him in the middle of a strength training block – and also no little anticipation. He’s always believed he’s been a potential sub10sec sprinter, and he can now see light at the end of that tunnel.

‘‘We’re trying something new in training,’’ he says. ‘‘I’ve been trying to bulk up a bit because we felt I ran better earlier in the season when I was heavier. I’m trying to get up to 95kg. I was 93-94 when I left for this meet. It seems I run better when I’m heavier. I feel stronger, and when I’m strong I get out of my blocks better.

‘‘It was clear in the race – I pretty much held Kerley till 50 metres, and it was just that last 50, having not done any speedwork the past 2-3 months, where my legs started to give out. Hopefully over the next six weeks, as I do more speedwork, that latter half of the race will improve. If I can get that together in Europe, who knows, we could threaten that New Zealand record.’’

Whelpton, who’s back in New Zealand to finish his training block, heads to Europe on June 20 for a series of meets to buildup for the world champs. And Yokohama has left him with plenty of food for thought as he contemplates turning a promising first 50 into a complete 100m.

‘‘I’m confident I’m one of the most powerful sprinters in the top 100,’’ he says matter-of-factly. ‘‘I don’t think anyone ranked above me is pushing out higher numbers on the watt bike or gym. I’ve always been a power and strength-based sprinter, so the first half of the race, where I spend more time on the ground pushing forwards, is when I do well.

‘‘But though I have world-class strength, I don’t have world-class stiffness, elasticity and bounciness. You can see it in the last 20 metres how quick Fred’s legs are cycling over, his cadence is much, much higher, and even though we’re similar height (Whelpton is 1.96m, Kerley 1.91m), he’s bouncing along crazy fast, and I’m struggling to get off the ground.

‘‘It’s my weak point, and something we’re working on. It must be working as I’m running PBs, so we’ll continue to try to improve ankle stiffness, foot strength and elasticity, and with those gains I should be able to make leaps in the latter half of my race.’’

Whelpton even goes as far as saying it’s ‘‘weird’’ he’s doing the times he is, ‘‘spending as much time as I am on the ground basically muscling through it’’.

Other aspects of Yokohama pleased the sprinter, who must now stay inside the top 48 on the rankings list to seal his spot in Budapest (he currently sits at 26). The consistency across the two races was a big tick, as was the experience of lining up in a final, with two false starts (caused by blocks’ issues) and finishing just 0.04sec off second.

Whelpton now eagerly anticipates his next stretch of racing which will see him branch out from a base in Leuven, Belgium, with a wishlist of meets in Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Germany and France.

‘‘This was a step in the right direction, though I still feel like the job is not done, and there’s more there,’’ he adds. ‘‘I know I can run quicker, and this is

‘‘It seems I run better when I’m heavier. I feel stronger, and when I’m strong I get out of my blocks better.’’

maybe me proving myself a little bit, and also proving to myself I can get there.’’

You press him a little. What level can he reach this year? Does a certain record – Eddie OseiNketia’s national mark of 10.08sec – beckon?

‘‘I’d love to go under 10.1,’’ he says. ‘‘Once you’re a 10.0 guy it’s much easier getting into these big meets . . . 10.0-something, I don’t care what it is, if I run that I’ll be pretty much on or under the New Zealand record. But the main goal is to run under 10 seconds in my lifetime, which now more than ever I believe I can do.’’

Bigger, better and way more ambitious.