5 Aug 2017

McCartney makes London final

10:03 am on 5 August 2017

Olympic bronze medallist Eliza McCartney has just snuck into the pole vault final at the World Athletic Championships in London.

Eliza McCartney.

Eliza McCartney. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

On the come back from an achilles injury, McCartney was unable to hit the automatic qualifying mark of 4.60m, only managing to clear 4.50m.

However she is through to the final on Monday morning as the 12th of 12 qualifiers.

She says rust was a factor.

"It was not good, but good at the same time," she said.

"Maybe the lack of vaulting in the last month caught up to me a little bit and I was struggling to control my legs a bit they were getting out of my control and they were a bit jelly and I was doing all sorts of strange things. It wasn't ideal but I can count my lucky stars."

"My Achilles held up really well, so that's promising for the final it means it is competition ready. I'm just a little bit rusty but this is a really good warm up now, since the final is in two days."

New Zealand sprinter Joseph Millar advanced to the main round of the 100-metres after finishing second in his preliminary race. However he was unable to progress further, finishing fifth in his heat after running 10.31 seconds.

Millar said the whole experience was a lot of fun.

"Not quite happy with the time that I ran, but there was a lot more things happening around me that time and a little bit tired from the earlier round but I was just hoping that that would have warmed the legs up enough to come through," he said.

"It's all been learning for the 200m later on, and then the bigger target of the Commonwealth Games next year," he added.

Millar said it has been a childhood dream come true.

"No matter what I do out on the track I just know there's a little boy in the past who wanted all this and I've finally have given them that. To get all the support and well-wishers from family and friends back home has been really cool, just to know that I'm making people proud.

"Although I didn't run the times that I was after I'm sure some people were looking to me to go a bit faster but the fact that I got here and had the opportunity is just something I feel really blessed about," said Millar.

He added that the support from the crowd had been great.

"Getting down to the blocks, the crowd goes quiet and someone calls out 'go Kiwi' it chucks a smile on my face, and gets me good and ready to go."

Discus thrower Marshall Hall was unsuccessful in his attempt to qualify for the final with a best effort of 56.64 metres, while distance runner Zane Robertson clocked a season best time as he finished 16th in the 10,000 metre final.