The 2024 Olympics are less than two weeks away, our athletes are selected and ready to go.
Kiwi High Jump star Hamish Kerr has indicated he was more than ready to challenge for gold at the Games in Paris, with a compelling win in Monaco at the Diamond League.
Hamish joined John MacDonald on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings from France, revealing that he's still got some competing to do before he flies the flag for New Zealand at the games.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB so as.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Part of our build up to the Paris Olympics, we're
catching up now with christ Which based high jumper Hamishku Gohammish.
How's it going mate, I'm very well. Now you're already
in France. Congratulations on you winning monarcaout the weekend. Tell
me a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, no, it was. It was an awesome performance. Obviously
at the moment we're looking for confidence building performances and
that definitely taxed that box. So yeah, we we've obviously
basually got a couple more comps before the game. So
I'm in France the moment where we're actually eating to
the UK on Thursday. But yeah, the games are coming
up very quickly, so I'm really really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
It was just your second competition since May. How are
you feeling about your leading at this point?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm really happy, Like I think that there's you know,
there's been a really well structured kind of process that
we've been following this year. Obviously, we competed in the
domestic season for Into the Endorse, which was where one
world endors and then we had a small competition block
in May and then and then we definitely planned to
go home and just do a bit of good training
and then come back here and hope that the form
(01:15):
would kack on. And it's certainly done that. So I
think that it's showing that the plan's working so far.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But nervously not peaking too early, are.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You No, No, I'm not, Honestly, I was a little
bit worried, to be honest in Monaco, like, I'll only
just finished a really heavy block of training, so usually
when that happens, there's there's not a lot of stuff
happening in the in the jumping, just because my legs
are so heavy, and so it was actually only about
the day before Monaco that I started feeling myself again.
(01:41):
So yeah, I don't think I've left it too early,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Sounds like perfect time. It's maybe I know nothing about
high jumping. Did how did you get into it in
the first place.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I'd just like to say that I was sort of
the curd who never grew up right, Like, I think
that everyone sort of enjoyed doing track and field at
high school, you know, at primary school and just getting
out there and enjoying it, and so I guess I
just sort of got better and better every year and
took it more seriously and then kind of woke up
one day realizing that I was traveling, we were doing it,
and that sort of probably meant that I was pretty
(02:11):
good at So yeah, I just love the sport and
I've just been outside and doing what I do.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So you basically wanted it to be athletics day every day.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yep, absolutely, no school, just athletics day.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I but it was quite a way down the trick
before you realized or believed you could be an Olympic
high jumper, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean I actually finished, I finished
high school and went to UNI in Palmerston North and
gave away the sport for a couple of years just
to sort of focus my studies and do what I
need to do as a teenage unique student. And so yeah,
I think once I suld have had that experience, I
realized how much that it missed the sport and kind
(02:50):
of only came back to it in my early twenties
and it's obviously been a few years now, but yeah, no,
I've just been loving the process.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Did you miss the sport or did you want to
be a high performance athlete or both.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I think the big thing for me was I meet
so many people who who were talented age group sports people,
when you know, the kind of recurring theme is, you know,
I could have been a you know, world class whatever
it is in their sport, and I kind of just
gave it away and life kind of took over. And
so I think that for me, one of both things
(03:24):
was just I knew that I was talented. I knew
that I had the opportunity to be a world class athlete,
and so I didn't want to I didn't want to
keep myself guessing as to how far I could have
taken it. So I suppose that's kind of the big
motivation behind picking it up again and sort of continues
to motivate me to a Now.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Your coach, now you said earlier, we and I assume
that you're talking about you and your coach, James Sanderlands,
is also a very good made of yours. How has
working together test in your friendship?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Probably slightly less than I initially expected it would. I
think that, yeah, it's actually a great pairing, Like it's
so good to travel with one of my best mates
and have him coach me as well. But you know,
there there's also pretty strict boundaries around you know, what
I can push back on and what he sort of
he runs. So yeah, it's it's it's a really good
(04:18):
sort of set up to have in a great relationship.
And I think that, you know, he's he's actually only
coached me for about eight months, but in that time he's,
you know, he's he's made some really good changes and
I think my form is really showing that it has
been a good, good decision in the long run.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Does it mean you can't invite him out for a
drink because you know he might see him? Do you
think you think you should be doing that? Mate, I
don't think you should be doing that.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah. Well no, he would just tell the dietation on me.
So yeah, it's it's it's a pretty sad place to
be and to be honest.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
And you and your partner Maddie Wilson also a high
performance athlete, Does that mean you're a pretty competitive couple.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah. I like to keep him the family. That's for sure,
the best mate coaching me and my girlfriend training with me.
But no, it's yeah, it's she's she's pretty competitive as well,
and I think we definitely keep each other on us.
But I think at the same time, you know, we
have a lot of shared interests that aren't sport, I
believe it or not. So I think we can go
home and kind of, you know, debrief on on how
(05:16):
our day's been, but then also talk about other things.
So it's a good balance.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I was reading it. This is this really interested me
given that you're off to the Olympics. When you were
growing up, you didn't actually idolize sporting stars. You idolized
your parents. Why was that?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, Look, I mean I've always loved sport, and I
think that I watched a lot of sport growing up.
But my parents are both academics. My mum's speech therapist
and my dad's the doctor. So I think, you know
that that kind of high performance for me was much
more in academia. You know, there was there was a
big sort of drive towards getting good grades and instead
(05:51):
of trying my heartiest in school, which was something that
you know, I was okay at but ultimately was not
you know, fully in love with. Given that you know,
I'm now an athlete and I travel the word doing that,
So I think that that was sort of more towards
what I aspired to be doing. And so I think
locking up to them and just seeing the drive and
the passion they had in their fields was was really
inspiring to me. And it's it's kind of funny because
(06:13):
you know, twenty years down the track, I look at
what I do and I'd say it's probably pretty similar
to what they do in their fields. It's just a
completely different field. And I think, you know, having the
maturity to then realize that high performance kind of comes
in so many different shapes and sizes is quite a
cool lesson that I've learned.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Of the way, I've seen that you believe optimism and
discipline a key to success as an athlete. How naturally
optimistic and discipline are you?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'm probably naturally optimistic and not so naturally disciplined.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So you can so you can go out for for
that drink and it can still win the race tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I can, Yeah, I can. I can think.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
That when the event tomorrow. You're not labeled you're a runner.
You're not a runner, you're a high jumper. What are
your goals for? What are your goals for Paris. Good, Yeah,
what are the goals for Paris?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Look, I think I think that I've made no bones
about the fact that I want to want to Middle
I know that I'm capable of it. I know that
the jumps that I've done and the progress we've made
over the last few months has made me one of
the top guys in the world. But at the same time,
you know, I'm coming in to such an amazing run
of form. If I can do a personal best or
some sort of jump that's right up there in the
(07:27):
high thirties, then you know, regardless of the meadow, I
think it's something that I'll be really proud of.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
We look forward to coming home to christ It's through
the airport with a bit of a bit of gold
around your nick. All the very best and thanks for
your time today, Hamish.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Thank you very much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
For more from Canterbory Mornings with John McDonald. Listen live
to news Talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB so as.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Part of our build up to the Paris Olympics, we're
catching up now with christ Which based high jumper Hamishku Gohammish.
How's it going mate, I'm very well. Now you're already
in France. Congratulations on you winning monarcaout the weekend. Tell
me a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, no, it was. It was an awesome performance. Obviously
at the moment we're looking for confidence building performances and
that definitely taxed that box. So yeah, we we've obviously
basually got a couple more comps before the game. So
I'm in France the moment where we're actually eating to
the UK on Thursday. But yeah, the games are coming
up very quickly, so I'm really really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
It was just your second competition since May. How are
you feeling about your leading at this point?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm really happy, Like I think that there's you know,
there's been a really well structured kind of process that
we've been following this year. Obviously, we competed in the
domestic season for Into the Endorse, which was where one
world endors and then we had a small competition block
in May and then and then we definitely planned to
go home and just do a bit of good training
and then come back here and hope that the form
(01:15):
would kack on. And it's certainly done that. So I
think that it's showing that the plan's working so far.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But nervously not peaking too early, are.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You No, No, I'm not, Honestly, I was a little
bit worried, to be honest in Monaco, like, I'll only
just finished a really heavy block of training, so usually
when that happens, there's there's not a lot of stuff
happening in the in the jumping, just because my legs
are so heavy, and so it was actually only about
the day before Monaco that I started feeling myself again.
(01:41):
So yeah, I don't think I've left it too early,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Sounds like perfect time. It's maybe I know nothing about
high jumping. Did how did you get into it in
the first place.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I'd just like to say that I was sort of
the curd who never grew up right, Like, I think
that everyone sort of enjoyed doing track and field at
high school, you know, at primary school and just getting
out there and enjoying it, and so I guess I
just sort of got better and better every year and
took it more seriously and then kind of woke up
one day realizing that I was traveling, we were doing it,
and that sort of probably meant that I was pretty
(02:11):
good at So yeah, I just love the sport and
I've just been outside and doing what I do.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So you basically wanted it to be athletics day every day.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yep, absolutely, no school, just athletics day.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I but it was quite a way down the trick
before you realized or believed you could be an Olympic
high jumper, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean I actually finished, I finished
high school and went to UNI in Palmerston North and
gave away the sport for a couple of years just
to sort of focus my studies and do what I
need to do as a teenage unique student. And so yeah,
I think once I suld have had that experience, I
realized how much that it missed the sport and kind
(02:50):
of only came back to it in my early twenties
and it's obviously been a few years now, but yeah, no,
I've just been loving the process.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Did you miss the sport or did you want to
be a high performance athlete or both.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I think the big thing for me was I meet
so many people who who were talented age group sports people,
when you know, the kind of recurring theme is, you know,
I could have been a you know, world class whatever
it is in their sport, and I kind of just
gave it away and life kind of took over. And
so I think that for me, one of both things
(03:24):
was just I knew that I was talented. I knew
that I had the opportunity to be a world class athlete,
and so I didn't want to I didn't want to
keep myself guessing as to how far I could have
taken it. So I suppose that's kind of the big
motivation behind picking it up again and sort of continues
to motivate me to a Now.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Your coach, now you said earlier, we and I assume
that you're talking about you and your coach, James Sanderlands,
is also a very good made of yours. How has
working together test in your friendship?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Probably slightly less than I initially expected it would. I
think that, yeah, it's actually a great pairing, Like it's
so good to travel with one of my best mates
and have him coach me as well. But you know,
there there's also pretty strict boundaries around you know, what
I can push back on and what he sort of
he runs. So yeah, it's it's it's a really good
(04:18):
sort of set up to have in a great relationship.
And I think that, you know, he's he's actually only
coached me for about eight months, but in that time he's,
you know, he's he's made some really good changes and
I think my form is really showing that it has
been a good, good decision in the long run.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Does it mean you can't invite him out for a
drink because you know he might see him? Do you
think you think you should be doing that? Mate, I
don't think you should be doing that.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah. Well no, he would just tell the dietation on me.
So yeah, it's it's it's a pretty sad place to
be and to be honest.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
And you and your partner Maddie Wilson also a high
performance athlete, Does that mean you're a pretty competitive couple.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah. I like to keep him the family. That's for sure,
the best mate coaching me and my girlfriend training with me.
But no, it's yeah, it's she's she's pretty competitive as well,
and I think we definitely keep each other on us.
But I think at the same time, you know, we
have a lot of shared interests that aren't sport, I
believe it or not. So I think we can go
home and kind of, you know, debrief on on how
(05:16):
our day's been, but then also talk about other things.
So it's a good balance.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I was reading it. This is this really interested me
given that you're off to the Olympics. When you were
growing up, you didn't actually idolize sporting stars. You idolized
your parents. Why was that?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, Look, I mean I've always loved sport, and I
think that I watched a lot of sport growing up.
But my parents are both academics. My mum's speech therapist
and my dad's the doctor. So I think, you know
that that kind of high performance for me was much
more in academia. You know, there was there was a
big sort of drive towards getting good grades and instead
(05:51):
of trying my heartiest in school, which was something that
you know, I was okay at but ultimately was not
you know, fully in love with. Given that you know,
I'm now an athlete and I travel the word doing that,
So I think that that was sort of more towards
what I aspired to be doing. And so I think
locking up to them and just seeing the drive and
the passion they had in their fields was was really
inspiring to me. And it's it's kind of funny because
(06:13):
you know, twenty years down the track, I look at
what I do and I'd say it's probably pretty similar
to what they do in their fields. It's just a
completely different field. And I think, you know, having the
maturity to then realize that high performance kind of comes
in so many different shapes and sizes is quite a
cool lesson that I've learned.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Of the way, I've seen that you believe optimism and
discipline a key to success as an athlete. How naturally
optimistic and discipline are you?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'm probably naturally optimistic and not so naturally disciplined.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So you can so you can go out for for
that drink and it can still win the race tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I can, Yeah, I can. I can think.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
That when the event tomorrow. You're not labeled you're a runner.
You're not a runner, you're a high jumper. What are
your goals for? What are your goals for Paris. Good, Yeah,
what are the goals for Paris?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Look, I think I think that I've made no bones
about the fact that I want to want to Middle
I know that I'm capable of it. I know that
the jumps that I've done and the progress we've made
over the last few months has made me one of
the top guys in the world. But at the same time,
you know, I'm coming in to such an amazing run
of form. If I can do a personal best or
some sort of jump that's right up there in the
(07:27):
high thirties, then you know, regardless of the meadow, I
think it's something that I'll be really proud of.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
We look forward to coming home to christ It's through
the airport with a bit of a bit of gold
around your nick. All the very best and thanks for
your time today, Hamish.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Thank you very much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
For more from Canterbory Mornings with John McDonald. Listen live
to news Talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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