George Beamish is a national record holder over multiple distances. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
First-time Olympian George Beamish is one of the headline acts in the country's 15-strong athletics squad after a stunning year.
Beamish is the first Kiwi steeplechaser at an Olympics in 40 years - the last was Peter Renner at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Beamish shot to prominence when he was the surprise winner of the 1500 metres at the world indoor athletics champs in Glasgow, in a personal best time of 3min 36.54sec. Photos capture Beamish looking astonished as he crossed the line first.
"It was not until 15-20 metres to go did I think that any medal was going to turn into gold. It was a blanket finish and I thought, if I get a medal, it might as well be first," he told Athletics NZ afterwards.
New Zealand's George Beamish reacts to his 1500m win. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Based in Colorado, the Kiwi was laid low by a nasty bug a couple of months ago but his latest performance would suggest he is hitting top form again.
Beamish smashed the national record while finishing fifth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Paris Diamond League meeting on 7 July.
He took almost four seconds off his own national record, with a time of eight minutes 13.26 seconds.
He was almost seven seconds behind the winner, Abrham Sime of Ethiopia.
The Kiwi's world ranking for the event is seventh.
Now his thoughts are turning to Paris. "I'd love to get a medal, that's why we started running the steeplechase... I'm probably closer to that in my first season than I expected to be."
Beamish could have also raced in the 5000m and 1500m at the Games but the scheduling was inconvenient.
However, he is keen to avoid being pigeon-holed as just a steeplechaser.
"I don't want to be stuck running just one event for the rest of my career, I want to stay competitive in the 1500 and mile, but we'll keep the steeplechase as the championship distance for the foreseeable future," he told RNZ last year.
Background
Born: 24 October 1996 in Hastings
Raised in Havelock North in Hawke's Bay
Also known as Geordie
Based in Arizona in USA
Hosts a podcast with US team-mates discussing life as a professional athlete
Olympic event: Men's 3000m steeplechase
Achievements:
- NZ record holder in 3000m, 5000m and 3000m steeplechase
- Won 1500m gold at the world indoor champs in Glasgow in March 2024
- Fifth in steeplechase at 2023 world champs in Budapest
- Oceania recordholder for 3000m steeplechase
- Sixth in men's 5000 metres at Birmingham Commonwealth Games
The steeplechase is a unique event where a runner's rhythm is interrupted five times each lap with a hurdle including one over a water jump.
George Beamish running a steeplechase event. Photo: Photosport
However, Beamish says he does a lot of fartlek training at his base in Colorado which involves random variations in speed and intensity.
"Those are some of the best workouts I run and so that part actually came naturally to me. I was never that good at just sitting on one pace and grinding out a whole 5k."
The first round of the steeplechase in Paris is on 5 August with the final on 7 August.