Australian sprint sensation Eddie Nketia is talking up his potential to run even faster at the Commonwealth Games after a succession of eye-catching times.
Nketia will make his Australian debut in Glasgow after switching allegiance late last year from New Zealand. He is one of the headline names in the 86-athlete track and field team named on Monday.
The 25-year-old’s performances in the last few months have featured a wind-assisted 9.74 seconds for the blue-riband 100m. The Commonwealth Games record is Usain Bolt’s 9.88 seconds, set at Glasgow in 2014. Bolt set the world record of 9.58 in 2009.
Asked at the team announcement if he can run faster, Nketia replied: “I would love to – I want to run as fast as I can. If we can get a 9.6, we get a 9.6, if we can get the world record, we get the world record. But it’s just going to start from execution.”
Glasgow teammate Lachie Kennedy holds the Australian record of 9.98.
Born in New Zealand, the son of former sprinter Gus Nketia, Eddie Nketia spent part of his youth in Canberra before moving to Wellington on a sports scholarship where he began breaking his father’s national 100m records.
He was controversially snubbed for the Tokyo Olympics because the New Zealand selectors decided he did not meet their criteria of a likely top 16 finish. Nketia blew up over the decision on social media, saying it “sucks and it’s unfair.”
He quit athletics to take up an American football scholarship in Hawaii, but before long worked returned to the track via a scholarship at the University of Southern California (USC), and then made his mind up to switch allegiences.
“I discovered that I have to be real with myself,” Nketia said in April.
“Do I, after what I’ve been through with New Zealand, go back and put risk in my career, or do I go to Australia and see where I could go from there? I just decided Australia’s the way to go. I just am thankful to get a chance to represent Australia and just see how far I can take and go from there with that.”
His USC track coach Brenton Emanuel predicted Nketia was headed for the top, and nicknamed him the Incredible Hulk, due to his prowess in the gym, adding: “Nothing seems too heavy for him. Like, he has some God-given strength.”
“He’s a very goal-driven individual,” Emanuel said in April. “He wants to be the best. I know that it means a lot for him to represent the country of Australia. And to do that, there are certain times you have to hit. Work ethic-wise, he is phenomenal. I’ve never had to ask him to work harder.
“It’s more about don’t muscle everything because he can be the Incredible Hulk, he’s a very strong kid. And so on the track, it’s more like just focus on the little things because he’s still learning, I always feel like he’s a sponge and he sucks everything up.
“I think he could be the best ever, definitely from Australia.”
The athletics selections complete the Australian team for Glasgow, with 258 competitors across 10 sports. Discus star Matt Denny, milers Ollie Hoare and Jessica Hull, pole vaulters Nina Kennedy and Kurtis Marschall and race walker Jemima Montag are other big names.
While Gout Gout opted out of the Games, Nketia and Kennedy will spearhead a powerful Australian contingent in the men’s sprint events.
“It’s beautiful ... the future’s bright and it’s going to be awesome, seeing what I can do for the green and gold,” Nketia said. “Seeing Gout Gout, Lachie Kennedy – it’s not just Glasgow, [but] the future. The relay, the depth, it’s just going to do wonders for the future of ... sprinting.”
Australian Athletics CEO Simon Hollingsworth said the selections reflected both performance excellence and consistency across the qualification period.
“This team has been selected off the back of outstanding performances across the season, including major championships and international meets,” he said. “It’s a group that has shown they can compete and win at the highest level, and we are confident they will represent Australia with distinction in Glasgow.”