New Zealand Announces Record-Breaking Team For World Athletics Indoor Championships In Nanjing

Athletics New Zealand is proud to announce an historic contingent of 12 athletes who will compete at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, from March 21 to 23. This marks the largest team New Zealand has ever sent to the indoor championships, continuing the current golden glow around athletics in New Zealand.

The 2024 World Indoor Championships were monumental for New Zealand, with Kiwi athletes taking home four global medals, the country's most successful performance. New Zealand finished third on the medal table, ahead of Great Britain, Canada, Ethiopia, and our Pacific neighbours, Australia.

The reigning Olympic Champion and defending World Indoor Champion, Hamish Kerr, will be in the hunt to defend his global title. Fresh off retaining his national high jump at the 2025 Jennian Homes NZ Track and Field Championships and leaping to 2.30m at the 2025 International Track Meet in Christchurch, Kerr is rounding into some strong early season form.

Joining Kerr is a full complement of shot putters with two men and two women selected for the first time. Tom Walsh clinched silver at the 2024 championships with a throw of 22.07m, and has freshly regained his national title in Dunedin. Walsh has been rapidly returning to form after his injury at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and hopes to be amongst the medals in Nanjing. The rivalry between Walsh and fellow kiwi Jacko Gill will continue in Nanjing as the 30-year-old dons the black singlet again. Finishing 7th at the Paris Olympics and 5th at the 2024 World Indoor Championships, Gill is still on the hunt for a global medal and has shown he has the potential to do so.

Olympic silver medalist Maddi Wesche and Kaia Tupu-South will join the men's shot put duo. The USA-based Tupu-South will make her black singlet debut in Nanjing. Tupu-South competes for the University of Washington in Seattle.

The pole vaulting duo of Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris will line up in the 12-strong field in Nanjing. The two Olympic finalists with bests of 4.71 and 4.67 respectively are coming into strong form with Ayris clearing her 4.67 best at the Meeting de L'Eure in Val-de-Reuil, France on the 2nd of February.

New Zealand’s strong heritage in middle distance running continues as Olympian Maia Ramsden and black singlet-debutant Laura Nagel join the team in the 1500m. Ramsden has returned to fine form in 2025, setting a new NZ mile record in Boston with her 4.21.56 performance to see her under the entry standard for the championships. The Boulder, USA-based Kiwi has had a fine run of form over the last 12 months, including multiple NZ records and two major championships under her belt. Nagel is the 2024 Oceania 1500m Champion and just won the 1500m and 5000m titles at the 2025 Jennian Homes NZ Track and Field Championships.

Oceania’s fastest woman Zoe Hobbs and the NZ 100m resident record holder, Tiaan Whelpton are the exciting sprint contingent heading to China. Both retained their 100m titles at the 2025 Jennian Homes NZ Track and Field Championships, with Hobbs’s time of 11.11s a world lead for 2025. Hobbs narrowly missed the medals at the 2024 championships, falling just 0.01s shy of bronze while setting a new NZ record of 7.06s in the process.

Rounding out the championship team is the Canadian-based Alison Andrews-Paul who has been given the nod over the 800 metres. Andrews-Paul is the NCAA D2 800m record holder, and the reigning Oceanian champion over 800 metres. Her recent 800m personal best of 2m00.81s in Boston, USA moves Andrews-Paul to 4th all time in NZ.

The New Zealand team selected for the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships:

Men:

Hamish Kerr (High Jump) - Coach: James Sandilands

Tom Walsh (Shot Put) - Coach: Hayden Hall

Jacko Gill (Shot Put) - Coach: Dale Stevenson

Tiaan Whelpton (60m) - Coach: Angus Ross

Women:

Maddi Wesche (Shot Put) - Mike Schofield

Kaia Tupu-South (Shot Put) - Walter Gill/Jason Schutz

Zoe Hobbs (60m) Coach: James Mortimer

Olivia McTaggart (Pole Vault) Coach: Scott Simpson

Imogen Ayris (Pole Vault) Coach: Scott Simpson

Maia Ramsden (1500m) Coach: Dathan Ritzenhein

Laura Nagel (1500m) Coach: Paul Hamblyn

Allison Andrews-Paul (800m) Coach: Brit Townsend

Athletics in New Zealand continues to enjoy a purple patch with several potential world indoor bound athletes opting to set their focus for later in the year with the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo occurring a month later than usual in September. The following athletes had withdrawn from consideration for selection: Sam Tanner has withdrawn to focus on his outdoor season. Eliza McCartney has withdrawn to focus on her outdoor season. Ethan Olivier has withdrawn to concentrate on rehabbing a minor injury picked up earlier in the season. Kimberly May has withdrawn to focus on her outdoor season. Eddie Osei-Nketia has withdrawn to focus on the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor season.

About the World Athletics Indoor Championships:

The WA Indoor Championships are a bi-annual championships usually held on alternate years to the World Athletics Athletics Championships. The competition is held on a “short track” that is 200m in length with banked bends. The events competed in have some variation from the outdoor championships (e.g. 60m is run vs 100m outdoors). More than 500 athletes from all around the world will compete for medals in 26 disciplines across the three days of action.

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