'Very little room for error': Zoe Hobbs on history-making 100m sprint

Sprinter Zoe Hobbs has spoken about her history-making 100m sprint at the Commonwealth Games, saying there was "very little room for error" given the wet conditions.

Hobbs sprinted her way into New Zealand sporting history with a time of 10.93s, beating her own Oceania record and securing the country's first Commonwealth Games gold medal in the event.

At the 1962 Empire Games Doreen Porter won silver over 100 yards.

Speaking to 1News after the race, the 28-year-old described her achievement as "crazy".

"I'm still processing what happened. I think I need to get some sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and just let it sink in," she said.

Zoe Hobbs makes history for NZ, winning 100m gold medal - watch on TVNZ+

Hobbs was emotional as she said looking up and seeing her own personal best time reflected back at her on the screen was "just a bit of disbelief and just stoked that I was able to follow the process".

"I knew I had it in my legs tonight to walk away with that gold. I was just managing the conditions and following my processes. I've been feeling good coming into this, so yeah I'm just stoked."

She said running on a wet track at Glasgow can be challenging, and the conditions including tailwind and temperature "make up a huge portion" of the short distance sprint.

"So to run a lifetime best and an Oceania record on a wet track in the cold. Crazy. I'm just excited to see what we can do next,” she said.

Hobbs said "a lot can go right and a lot can go wrong in the 100 metres".

"There's very little room for error. I had to execute right from the start and not tense up. That's something that I've historically done, and so this season we had a good consistent run of races coming into this and so I just leaned on the fact that I had it in my legs coming in.”

On the starting blocks in lane seven, Hobbs said she was listening for the reaction and then let herself run the rest on “autopilot”.

“The rest was just a blur. I didn't have any time to think. Once I was up and running, I was just trying to hold off the other girls. I know some of the others have a very good topping speed. I know that the start is my strength, and so I really had to lean into that. Yeah, just don't tense up and run free, free and open.

"It's a fine balance between running free, but also being aggressive. It's like, finding peace but also aggression, and so I think I found that perfect balance.

“There was a little bit of a stumble at the start and I wasn't sure if I would be able to recover it in the drive phase to be able to get an effective transition but I probably need to watch back the race to actually figure out what happened, but that was my feeling at least is that there was a little bit of a stumble."

Hobbs said she had been on this journey since she first began running - like many Kiwi kids - at the age of 5.

"Back then it was just fun and games... I was just like any other kid.

"It was pretty evident from a young age that it was my strength, jumping and sprinting. But in saying that I did do that alongside other sports and that was really important for me to do other sports like netball and basketball and tennis, anything that I could really set aside time for," she laughed.

"It wasn't until high school that I solely focused on athletics and that was more like year 12, year 13. Then moved to Auckland, joined my coach James Mortimer in 2016. And yeah, we've been on this journey since 2016, just chipping away year on year."

Hobbs said when she was a development athlete she had her graphs put in front of her, which showed it would be better for her to "consider doing other events other than the 100 metres just because of how globally stacked it is".

"I'm just glad that I stuck to my guns and I think if you enjoy something and if you believe in yourself and you just keep chipping away, keep consistent and have the right team around you, then you can make things happen."

She thanked her coach, family and loved ones who helped her get to this point in her sprinting career.

"I'm really excited with the team that I've got behind me, and I know that we have so much more that we can keep working on."

Click here to read article