World Masters Athletics 2019 Athlete of the Year – Winners Announced
UPDATED RESULTS
Congratulations to Christine Adamson on being joint runner-up of the World Masters Athletics Female Long Distance Athlete of the Year. Christine is the first NZMA representative to record such an achievement.
Christine was interviewed by WMA:
What does winning the award mean to you? Winning this Award is a huge honour for me. It would also be a massive surprise. I only started competitive athletics three years ago on my 60th Birthday! I began at club level, and just kept stepping up to the challenges right through to the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga and Torun. It is an honour to represent New Zealand and the Oceania region at this world level. It would also be an opportunity to inspire others that it is never too late to start using their unique talents.
What were your goals in Masters Athletes for 2019? In 2019 my goal was to win a world championship in the 10km Road Race having finished with the Silver Medal the previous year. I achieved this is Torun, Poland in March 2019. My other goal was to gain a Top 10 finish in an international 10 km Road Race in the Open (All Ages) category. I achieved this in Dubai in January 2019.
What are your goals in Masters Athletics for 2020?In 2020 I will be competing at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Toronto. My focus is the 5000m and 10km Road Race, and I hope I can perform at a high level there.
What else happen for/to you in 2019 that you would like to share? Another highlight in 2019 was travelling to Iten in Kenya. I had the opportunity to train at the High Altitude Training Centre owned by Lornah Kiplagat. This was a wonderful experience combining learning about the Kenyan way of running, as well as cultural immersion in this small rural Kenyan town. It was also an opportunity to introduce Masters Athletics to them as runners 50 years or older are seldom seen there.
How has your health in recent years? Before I started competitive athletics three years ago I led a fairly sedentary lifestyle. Now, with a high level of fitness and strength, my health has improved dramatically. I have lost over 10kg excess weight, and I would say that every aspect of my health has improved. Also, running and training in beautiful locations is always uplifting.
Other than Masters Athletes, what else do you do for fun? When Im not training I love going to the surf beach and body surf in the waves. I am also a social tennis player; and for restful activities I enjoy writing, music and meditation. However, best of all is spending time with my two adult daughters who live nearby.
NOMINEES
Four New Zealand athletes have been named as Oceania’s nominees for the 2019 World Masters Athletics athletes of the year.
To be eligible for nomination an athlete must have competed in either a WMA World or a Regional Championships (i.e. OMA for us) in 2019, must not have had a doping offence, be members of their WMA Masters Affiliate and all performances must have occurred in 2019.
Our 2019 nominees are Stephen Burden (male jumps), Christine Adamson (female long distance), Sheryl Gower (female sprints) and Peter Fox (male walks). The full list can be viewed here.
This is the third year of this awards process, which was introduced for 2017, and four is the most nominees OMA have selected from New Zealand. In 2018, we had three nominees (Sally Gibbs, Alastair Prangnell and Mark Cumming) and 2017 we had two (Ian Carter and Michael Wray).
We have maintained our record of having had at least one long distance athlete nominated each year. Now that we have walks and sprints, the only individual discipline in which we have not had an athlete selected is combined events.
We still await our first winner – good luck to our 2019 nominees!