Hamish Carson (born 1 November 1988) is a middle distance

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He represented his country at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

Career

Carson was educated at

Kapiti College Kāpiti College is situated at Raumati Beach on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand, 45 minutes drive from Wellington City. It was called Raumati District High School when built in 1954, then renamed Kapiti College in 1957. The Kapiti College mott ...

. During his childhood, Carson participated in a wide range of sporting activities, including athletics, field hockey and skiing. Carson took up

cross country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

Wānaka Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River/Mata-Au and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. ...

in the winter of 2001. After two seasons of

downhill skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping), w ...

at Ruapehu, he won the national championships in both the classic and freestyle forms for the M12 age grade. He initially took up harriers to maintain his fitness for cross country skiing. Carson joined a harriers training group coached by Graham Tattersall at the end of 2002, and had his last season of field hockey in 2003. In 2008, he joined Wellington Scottish Athletics Club and was selected for their men's A team to compete in the 2009 National Road Relay Championships being held on the Takahe to Akaroa course. Carson has been coached by Arch Jelley who is known for coaching New Zealand athlete John Walker to international success including a gold medal in the 1500 m event at the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976. Although Jelly retired from coaching in 2000, five years later, he agreed to coach Carson, who subsequently represented New Zealand at the

in the

. Jelley retired from coaching once more in 2018. In May 2016, Carson met the IAAF B standard for the 1500 m, making him eligible for selection to the New Zealand team for the

. In July 2016, Carson was confirmed as a member of the New Zealand team. At the Olympics Carson finished eighth in his heat and did not advance to the semi-finals. In March 2018, Carson was selected for the New Zealand team to the IAAF World Indoor Championship in Birmingham, UK. He ran the 3000m after qualifying in NYRR Millrose Games. In the National Road Relay Championships held in

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has w ...

in 2019, Carson achieved a win for the Wellington Scottish men's team by taking the lead on the last lap, and beating the previous record time for that lap. In October 2021, Carson joined the Belgian club Atletiekclub Lyra. In March 2022 Carson was also selected to represent New Zealand at the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia but had to withdraw from the competition after getting sick with Covid19 a week before the start of the competition. Carson was selected for the New Zealand team to the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Oregon, after achieving a 35-second personal best time of 13:17.27 in a 5000 m race in Spain in May.

New Zealand Championships

In the years from 2010 to 2021, Carson was placed in the top three on multiple occasions in New Zealand championships for the distances 1500 m and 3000 m, with some additional top placings in the longer 10000 m and half-marathon events.

Personal bests

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Hamish 1988 births Living people New Zealand male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics People educated at Kapiti College 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people