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Valerie Vili, the reigning world indoor and outdoor champion in the shot put, will lead a squad of eight from New Zealand to this summer's Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old from Auckland, currently the world leader with a 20.13m/66- ˝ effort from February, will arrive in the Chinese capital as New Zealand's most solid medal threat.
"I was 19 when I competed at the last Olympics and have a lot of experience under my belt in the last four years," Vili said. She finished eighth in Athens, but will be expected to do far better than that in August. Nonetheless, Vili said that expectations back home won't weigh on her in the least.
"At the end of the day I put more pressure on myself than anyone else does. I'm mentally strong headed and I'm prepared for it and I do my business and enjoy the atmosphere."
Nick Willis, the 2006 Commonwealth Games 1500m gold medallist, will compete in his specialty. The former University of Michigan star has a 3:32.17 career best, was a semi-finalist at the Athens games four years ago and reached the final at last year's World Championships where he finished 10th.
Kim Smith, who finished fifth in the 10,000m at last August's World Championships, will choose between the 10,000m and 5000m for Beijing. Most recently, the former Providence star was sixth in the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships last month.
Others named include javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar, former world champion Beatrice Faumuina in the discus throw, Adrian Blincoe in the 5000m, James Dolphin in the 200m, and Nina Rillstone in the marathon.
Marathoners Michael Aish and Liza Hunter-Galvan, who acheived the 'A' standards of 2:15:00 and 2:37:00, respectively, were not nominated for selection.
"There were a wide range of issues that we considered and one of these was past performances at major competitions," said Athletics New Zealand chief selector John Bowden. "Past performances are taken into account and selection is not automatic if an athlete does an A standard."
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