Hamish Carson (born 1 November 1988) is a middle distance athlete from New Zealand.[1] He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres.[2]

Hamish Carson
Personal information
NationalityNew Zealander
Born (1988-11-01) 1 November 1988 (age 36)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event1500 m 5000m
ClubWellington Scottish Athletics, Atletiekclub Lyra
Coached byArch Jelley, Tomasz Lewandowski, Rik Didden

Career

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Carson was educated at Kāpiti College.[3]

During his childhood, Carson participated in a wide range of sporting activities, including athletics, field hockey and skiing. Carson took up cross country skiing in Wānaka in the winter of 2001. After two seasons of downhill skiing at Ruapehu, he won the national championships in both the classic and freestyle forms for the M12 age grade. He initially took up harriers to maintain his fitness for cross country skiing. Carson joined a harriers training group coached by Graham Tattersall at the end of 2002, and had his last season of field hockey in 2003. In 2008, he joined Wellington Scottish Athletics Club and was selected for their men's A team to compete in the 2009 National Road Relay Championships being held on the Takahe to Akaroa course.[4]

Carson has been coached by Arch Jelley who is known for coaching New Zealand athlete John Walker to international success including a gold medal in the 1500 m event at the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976. Although Jelly retired from coaching in 2000, five years later, he agreed to coach Carson,[5] who subsequently represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres.[6] Jelley retired from coaching once more in 2018.[7]

In May 2016, Carson met the IAAF B standard for the 1500 m, making him eligible for selection to the New Zealand team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[8] In July 2016, Carson was confirmed as a member of the New Zealand team.[2][9] At the Olympics Carson finished eighth in his heat and did not advance to the semi-finals.[3]

In March 2018, Carson was selected for the New Zealand team to the IAAF World Indoor Championship in Birmingham, UK. He ran the 3000m after qualifying in NYRR Millrose Games.

In the National Road Relay Championships held in Feilding in 2019, Carson achieved a win for the Wellington Scottish men's team by taking the lead on the last lap, and beating the previous record time for that lap.[10]

In October 2021, Carson joined the Belgian club Atletiekclub Lyra.[citation needed]

In March 2022 Carson was also selected to represent New Zealand at the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia but had to withdraw from the competition after getting sick with COVID-19 a week before the start of the competition. Carson was selected for the New Zealand team to the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Oregon, after achieving a 35-second personal best time of 13:17.27 in a 5000 m race in Spain in May.[11]

New Zealand Championships

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In the years from 2010 to 2021, Carson was placed in the top three on multiple occasions in New Zealand championships for the distances 1500 m and 3000 m, with some additional top placings in the longer 10000 m and half-marathon events.[1]

Year 1500 m 3000 m 10000 m Half marathon
2010 1st 2nd
2011 1st 1st
2012
2013 1st 1st
2014 1st 3rd 2nd
2015 1st
2016 1st 2nd
2017 1st
2018 1st
2019 2nd
2021 3rd

Personal bests

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[1]

Event Time Venue Date
800 m 1:49.15 Claremont, USA 12 April 2014
1000 m 2:19.41 Szczecin, Poland 15 August 2018
1500 m 3:36.25 Swarthmore, PA, USA 16 May 2016
Mile 3:56.72 Wanganui, New Zealand 19 January 2016
3000 m 7:47.22 New York, USA 3 February 2018
5000 m 13:17.27 Huelva, Spain 25 May 2022
10000 m 29:39.28 Wellington, New Zealand 9 November 2019
Half-marathon 1:06:05 Christchurch, New Zealand 2 June 2013
Marathon 2:27:16 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 11 December 2016

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Profile – Hamish Carson". Athletics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Athletics: Julian Matthews and Hamish Carson make NZ Olympic team". The New Zealand Herald. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b Haxton, David (29 September 2016). "Olympian Hamish Carson puts Rio in focus". Kapiti News. NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  4. ^ McLean, Grant (25 October 2010). "Carson on the Rise". Scottishathletics.org.nz. Wellington Scottish Athletics Club. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  5. ^ Burgess, Michael (3 July 2016). "Big read: The oldest Olympic coach in the world?". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021.
  6. ^ Alderson, Andrew (15 July 2016). "Athletics: Julian Matthews and Hamish Carson make NZ Olympic team". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021.
  7. ^ Reid, Felicity (31 December 2020). "Arch Jelley: 'Who would nominate a 98 year old'". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Matthews clinches Olympic qualification". Stuff.co.nz. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  9. ^ Landells, Steve (29 July 2016). "Athletics: Well-earned Olympic berth for Carson". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  10. ^ "NZ Road Relay Champs to go ahead thanks to alert level 1 move". Stuff. 22 September 2020. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Third time lucky for stranded runner Hamish Carson". RNZ. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.