Former national runner Paul Allison always has his finger on the pulse.

So, when he makes a statement saying New Zealand’s current middle distance runners are not “a million miles away from the golden era”, you know it holds gravitas.

Allison, a long-serving former broadcaster, has kept a watchful eye over his beloved sport for many years and has watched in awe as New Zealand time and time again has produced exceptional performances on the world stage.

“I think it’s fair to say New Zealand athletics has been producing genuinely world-class athletes for several seasons now,” Allison said.

“Performers like Tom Walsh, Geordie Beamish, Hamish Kerr and Zoe Hobbs are consistently competing — and succeeding — at the highest level internationally.

“In many respects, this current elite group could arguably be as strong as any New Zealand has produced.”

Sam Ruthe’s extraordinary performances on the track helped ignite interest, and the 16-year-old was recently selected for his first national team to compete at the world under-20 championships later this year.

“What he is doing at such a young age is genuinely sensational and potentially marks him as one of the most remarkable sporting talents this country has produced,” Allison said.

“Performances like that capture the public imagination and remind people how exciting athletics can be.”

While more eyes were glued to the sport, most could not appreciate the calibre of class they were currently witnessing.

That came down to the level of media exposure — athletics had previously been considered a premier sport, and events were regularly televised, whereas the 2026 national championships returned to television for the first time in more than 20 years — and athletes predominantly competed overseas, outside of the public spotlight, he said.

Allison felt there was an interesting contrast between the sport at the top and grassroots, and believed club athletics in several parts of the country was declining, with some events at this year’s national championships having small fields.

That reflected a wider change in the sporting landscape, with more activities on offer for people to delve into than ever before, he said.

“While this current generation of elite athletes may well be one of the strongest New Zealand has ever produced, there’s a real paradox in the sport at the moment.

“Despite those challenges, the quality at the very top of New Zealand athletics remains exceptional.

“When you look at athletes like Beamish, Tanner and Ruthe in the middle distance ranks, we’re not a million miles away from the golden era of John Walker, Dick Quax and Rod Dixon — especially when you consider how much more global and competitive the sport has become.”

Some top performances also tended to slip under the radar among the success of Olympic, Paralympic and world championship feats.

Among those is the pinnacle mile race, where few athletes have managed to dip under the elusive four-minute barrier.

Ruthe made headlines last year for becoming the youngest person, then aged 15, to dip under four minutes and later broke John Walker’s national record on his way to a world under-18 record of 3min 48.88sec.

New Zealand has produced 54 athletes who have dipped under the mark, most recently Chanel Muir (Canterbury), who ran 3min 59.78sec, and Elliott Pugh (Tauranga), who ran 3min 59.60sec in Boston in February.

“Yet to my knowledge neither performance received much — if any — media attention back home,” Allison said.

“Our athletes are achieving extraordinary things on the world stage.”

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