High jumper Hamish Kerr says he’s “over the moon” after claiming New Zealand’s first track and field medal of the Birmingham Games.
The 25-year-old produced an incredible display on the mat, clearing the first four heights on his first attempt before battling for gold with Australian Brandon Starc, who held the title from the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
While neither managed to clear the final height of 2.28m, Kerr’s clean run left him ahead of Starc in a countback, allowing him to prevail as the Commonwealth champion.
Following the event, Kerr said it would take him some time to fully process what he achieved at his maiden Games but that he was proud of his ability to fight for the top position.
“I’m over the moon. I’m so stoked but at the same time but I definitely don’t think it’s fully sunk in and it probably will take a few days to really settle down,” Kerr said on SENZ Afternoons.
When asked if the win was a testament to his mental strength, the gold medallist responded: “Yeah, I think it is, I’ve definitely had a tough few months.
“I won bronze in World Indoors in Belgrade and pretty much got COVID straight away which took probably about two months to get over.
“Then my coach got it so I couldn’t train with him and pretty much got thrown overseas to compete by myself and that’s been a huge learning curve for me as well.
“I think this is a testament to the fact that I love the big meets, I love competing and I love getting it going when the crowd’s on.
“I had to trust it a lot because my form coming into this wasn’t amazing, I wasn’t jumping amazing in training but I (know) that when the time comes and the big jumps matter I can definitely pull them out and I think I proved that again.”
Kerr’s indoor bronze medal earlier this year made New Zealand history as it became the nation’s first high jump medal on the world stage.
The victory added to the Kiwis’ 16 gold medals and became one of the nation’s most successful days at the Games with 10 added to their overall tally of 36.