Sport

Eddie Osei-Nketia beats father's record to become NZ's fastest sprinter

18:09 pm on 16 July 2022

A New Zealand sprinter has set a new national record previously held by his own father.

Eddie Osei-Nketia has set a new national record. Photo: Alisha Lovrich

Eddie Osei-Nketia is through to the semi-finals in the men's 100 metre race at the World Championships in Oregon in the US.

The 21-year-old posted a time of 10.08, knocking 0.03m/s off his father Gus Nketia's time set at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

The New Zealand champion shaved 0.04 from his lifetime best.

He placed second in the heat, racing against Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala, who took the third spot and Japan's Abdul Hakim Sani Brown who took won with a time of 9.98.

"I knew that if I was focused and my mind was in the race I could do well," he said.

"I wasn't initially aware at first that I'd broken my dad's record, I just knew I had made the semis that was my goal. But after seeing 10.08 I was so emotional, I was crying. Knowing what it had taken to get that time was emotional for me."

Osei-Nketia will race again tomorrow.