New Zealand high jumper Hamish Kerr made his first start of the season and qualified for the World Indoor Championships after finishing in Auckland.
Kerr is the reigning world high jump champion after winning the final with a clear of 2.36m, beating Ukraine's Oleg Doroshchuk, who finished fourth with 2.31m.
Kerr made his first start of the new season at the Auckland tournament. There, the New Zealander won, clearing 2.28 meters. His closest pursuer, Rafe Kouyo, cleared 2.06 meters.
In addition to the victory, Kerr was also able to guarantee himself participation in the World Indoor Championships. With an attempt of 2.28 m, the New Zealander rose to 11th place in the qualifying ranking for the tournament. At the same time, the reigning world champion was two centimeters short of the “normative” 2.30 m, which was conquered by the same Doroshchuk.
2026 FIFA World Cup Indoor Qualifying Rankings (as of March 8)
- Jan Štefela (Czech Republic) 2.32 m
- Mateusz Kolodziejski (Poland) 2.30 m
- Naoto Hasegawa (Japan) 2.30 m
- Tomohiro Shino (Japan) 2.30 m
- Woo Sang Hyuk (Republic of Korea) 2.30 m
- Oleg Doroshchuk (Ukraine) 2.30 m
- Christian Falocchi (Italy) 2.30 m
- Younes Ayachi (Algeria) 2.28 m
- Kimani Jack (Great Britain) 2.28 m
- Bozhidar Saraboyukov (Bulgaria) 2.28 m
- Hamish Kerr (New Zealand) 2.28 m
- Antonios Merlos (Greece) 2.28 m
The World Indoor Athletics Championships will be held in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, from March 20-22.