Zoe Hobbs Proves Her Class In World Indoor 60m Final

22 March

Zoe Hobbs was the top name lining up for New Zealand in Nanjing, China at the 2025 World Indoor Championships. Facing three rounds of the 60m on the same day, Hobbs’s experience shone through as she progressed through each round to find herself lining up in the final at 2:20 AM NZT.

Zoe Hobbs comfortably qualified through to the final earlier in the day. Cruising to the top spot in her heat with a 7.18 performance in heat 3 of 6. She qualified through as the fourth fastest to the semi finals.

Hobbs made it a nervous wait after her blistering run in the semis, with the officials unable to separate the top three athletes on the line. With only the top two finishers automatically advancing to the final, it was an anxious moment for Kiwi sports fans as they waited to learn of her final position. Ultimately, Hobbs was ruled to have finished in third place by 0.001 of a second, with Mujinga Kambndji of Switzerland in second and Patrizia Van Der Weken of Luxembourg taking the top spot. The photo-finish judges gave all athletes a time of 7.12s.

It was yet again another nervous wait for Hobbs as the results of the third and final semi-final came in, and Hobbs qualified as the fastest non-automatic qualifier. Only two non-automatic spots were available to the final.

Hobbs kept her performances consistent in the final, with a 7.13s run for 6th place. It's a game of fractions of a second as the entire field is separated by just 0.1s from 1st to 8th. Hobbs laid down three world-class performances in one day, two times below her previous season's best of 7.15s set in the USA earlier in the season.

Hobbs had a strong start over the first 20m of the race, running herself into a strong position as the field all came together over the last 10m. Hobbs was awarded 6th place in the global final.

At the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Hobbs was also just 0.001s off the Podium in the 60m final. Running her lifetime best of 7.06 to do so.

Results from the final:

1 Mujinga KAMBUNDJI - SUI 7.04

2 Zaynab DOSSO - ITA 7.06

3 Patrizia VAN DER WEKEN - LUX 7.07

4 Ewa SWOBODA - POL 7.09

5 Amy HUNT - GBR 7.11

6 Zoe HOBBS - NZL 7.13

7 Rani ROSIUS - BEL 7.14

8 Xiaojing LIANG - CHN 7.14

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