In just the second week of her three-month European athletics season, Zoe Hobbs ticked off a major goal by meeting the qualifying standard for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hobbs made headlines last week when she set a blistering time of 10.96s at the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger in Switzerland, beating the Olympic qualifying standard by 0.11s.
However, Hobbs told 1News the record-breaking run wasn't on the cards.
"It was 15 degrees the time of running and 20 minutes delayed by the heats," Hobbs said.
Not helping was the fact that just 48 hours prior, Hobbs had finished fifth at the Lausanne Diamond League meet.
"I was pretty stiff after that one," she said.
"But I know that when you've got adrenaline and when you're in a comp usually that masks the feeling of a niggle.
"I didn't think I'd run 10.96!"
But despite the milestone, she still needs to be nominated by Athletics New Zealand — a touchy subject after Hobbs was controversially omitted from competing in Tokyo despite gaining entry by her world ranking.
That frustration was in part due to Kiwi athletes usually needing to also prove they're capable of a top 16 finish in their field, although Hobbs' coach James Mortimer thinks this time it's a no brainer.
"She's done what the New Zealand Olympic Committee want her to do and what the World Athletics Committee want her to do as well," Mortimer said.
"She can pretty much have some fun now and race fast."
Ironically, that's what she was doing in Switzerland and it just so happened the Olympic qualifying window had only just opened.
Mortimer admitted he too was stunned by the run.
"It was a meet that we definitely aimed to do a fast time… but obviously the conditions in the morning were quite cold."
Having defied the cold, Hobbs now could be the first New Zealand woman since Sue Jowett at the 1976 Montreal Olympics to line up in the glamorous event.
"It's pretty crazy," she said thinking about New Zealand's absence in the women's 100m.
"It's a long time and I think that was a big driver for me was putting sprinting on the map and finally having a sprinter there after such a long period."
She'll get a good feel for the field next month at the Athletics World Championships in Budapest and then after that the countdown is on to a ticket to Paris and a date with history.
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