Latest news with #AnnaGrimaldi
Otago Daily Times
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Grimaldi impresses
Anna Grimaldi. Photo: Gerard O'Brien Anna Grimaldi has had a dream run at her Diamond League debut. The Dunedin Paralympian won bronze in the women's mixed classification 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, yesterday. Grimaldi, who won gold in the 200m and bronze in the 100m at the 2024 Paralympics, had a good tussle for the second podium spot with Brittani Mason. But the United States runner scored silver in 12.40sec — just as she did in Paris — and Grimaldi won bronze in 12.41sec. Ireland's Orla Comerford (T13) won in 12.14sec. Paralympian Mitchell Joynt set a New Zealand and Oceania T64 record with a personal best in the men's 200m with 22.86sec, going under the 23sec mark for the first time. He finished seventh in the mixed T62/T64 field. Shot putter Maddi Wesche became the second New Zealand woman after Valerie Adams to hurl over 20m with a lifetime best of 20.06m. She soared past her personal best of 19.86m to finished fourth in Eugene. Tom Walsh had a tough time finishing eighth in the men's shot put with a best throw of 21.50m. It was only 30cm off Walsh's personal best, but it was a highly competitive field with five athletes clearing 22m. Sam Tanner finished sixth in the B mile in 3min 52.63sec, while teenaged prodigy Sam Ruthe, now 16, got caught in an early fall and finished in 4min 0.65sec.
Otago Daily Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Grimaldi given rare opportunity
Anna Grimaldi is making the most of her latest opportunity. The Dunedin Paralympic champion is adjusting to the United States heat after being invited to race in the 100m at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, this weekend. Attending the meet, which is part of the Diamond League circuit, is a huge coup for the T47 Paris 200m champion and 100m bronze medallist. "I feel really excited to be invited to race at Pre'," Grimaldi told the Otago Daily Times from Arizona. "It was kind of one of those opportunities that I knew as soon as it came in that we were going to do everything to make sure I was there. "I feel really lucky to have these opportunities." While it is a mixed classification race, Grimaldi will come up against American Brittni Mason, who won silver in the 100m and 200m races in Paris. "I've never beaten her over the 100m so this will be a good battle," Grimaldi said. "We've never raced outside of world champs or the Paralympic Games before, so that's also really cool." Para athletes seldom get the chance to race against each other outside their two pinnacle events, but more para events are being added to athletic meets. Alongside the women's mixed classification 100m, Prefontaine will host a men's 100m and 200m — Kiwi Paralympian Mitch Joynt will race in the latter — and a 800m wheelchair specialist event. Grimaldi, who is scheduled to race about 7am (NZ time) on Sunday, is thrilled there is more interest in para events. "The more it happens ... the more it's going to continue. I hope that's the case. "I hope getting this start in this race will give me opportunity to race at future, either Pre', or at other Diamond Leagues as well. "Because this is such an awesome opportunity that our able-bodied counterparts get to have multiple times a year ... but we only get it once every four years at the Games and then once every two years at world champs. "The only way to get better, and learn more about yourself competing but also your opponents and the whole sport, is to keep competing and just to have these opportunities. "That's what we need to grow our sport, to grow interest in our sport, to grow interest in us as individual athletes as well." After a stint at home to start 2025, Grimaldi has been in Phoenix to train with Altis, a running group, in preparation for the Prefontaine. Training in over 40degC was part of the plan to help her adjust, but also give her a "tune-up" for racing in the heat before the world para athletics championships in India in September. "It is overwhelming but it's these moments where I learn a lot about myself and what I need to do. "Overall this has been such a great opportunity already. "I can't imagine how it could get any better and the comp hasn't even started yet." Grimaldi will return to Dunedin after the Prefontaine to "knuckle down" with coach Mikey Jacobs before the world championships. Her partner, Australian Paralympic distance runner Jaryd Clifford, is heading to Eugene to watch Grimaldi and will then spend three weeks training in Dunedin.
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Kiwi teenager Sam Ruthe has another crack at a sub-four-minute mile
New Zealand runner Sam Ruthe. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ Tauranga teenager Sam Ruthe has another sub four minute mile in his sights as he prepares to compete at the famous Prefontaine Classic in the United States this weekend. In March, Ruthe became the youngest runner to break four minutes for the mile, with a 3m 58.35s performance at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium. Paced throughout by training partner and two-time Olympian Sam Tanner, Ruthe became the first 15-year-old to duck under the mythical benchmark for middle-distance running. The pair will line-up together again in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday in the International Mile which is a part of the Diamond League meeting. Now 16-years-old, Ruthe aims to be the youngest ever to break four minutes in the mile on US soil, a record currently held by Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen was 16 years and 250 days old at the time. Technically the B race at the meet, the International Mile does have some quality runners featuring 3:50 miler Cooper Teare of the US and the USA's top high-schooler Owen Powell. Shot-putters Tom Walsh and Maddison-Lee Wesche are also competing at the event. Anna Grimaldi stars in an ever growing para-program at the Prefontaine Classic. Competing in a mixed-classification 100m para. She'll line up against USA's Brittni Mason who finished ahead of Grimaldi at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games over the 100m T47. Mitch Joynt will also line up at the 50th edition of the Pre Classic in the 200m T62 / T64 Para. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Grimaldi, Robinson selected for world para champs
Anna Grimaldi. Holly Robinson. Dunedin Paralympians Anna Grimaldi and Holly Robinson are heading to India. They have been selected in an eight-strong New Zealand team to compete at the world para athletics championships in New Delhi - the first time the event will be held in India - from September 27 to October 5. Backing up from her remarkable Paralympic campaign, Grimaldi will stick to the track in the subcontinent, racing in the T47 200m and 100m, the events in which she won gold and bronze respectively in Paris. Robinson will compete in the F46 shot put in India. She won bronze in shot put in Paris last year and has since retired from javelin. The Dunedin pair add significant depth to a team boasting countless Paralympic and world championship medals. They are joined by Paralympians Will Stedman, competing in the men's T36 100m, 400m and long jump, Danielle Aitchison in the women's T36 100m and 200m, and Mitch Joynt in the men's T64 200m. It will be a special championships for Joynt, who coaches newcomer Paddy Walsh, who will make her senior international debut in the women's T64 long jump. Michael Whittaker, a former international fashion model before he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder leading to progressive vision loss, will also make his international debut. Whittaker, who took up the sport during Covid lockdown, will compete in the T13 5000m and Sarah James, the team's only wheelchair racer, will make her debut in the women's T53 100m.
