Edward Osei-Nketia, kiwi sprinter sensation in the trans-tasmanian arm wrestling

Just in the process of becoming the fastest man in Australia, Edward Osei-Nketia, kiwi sprinter sensation, will decide his future in international athletics in the coming days.

The 17-year-old 17-year-old student from the Scottish College recorded a 100-meter personal best in 10 minutes in the semifinal of the Australian Athletics Championship in Sydney on Saturday, before returning a few hours later in September. final to win the title. title in 10.22sec.

His semifinal stunner now sees him just 0.02 seconds behind his former Kiwi representative Chris Donaldson, and is close to New Zealand's all-time record of 10.11, held by none other than the father. Gus Nketia coach, Osei-Nketia.

But he is unsure of whether he will follow suit and also take on the black jersey, with an impending trans-Tasman showdown for the Auckland-born and Australian-bred prodigy, who returned to New Zealand early in the summer. # 39; year. because of the scholarship.

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"It's something we're going to talk about in the coming days," said Gus Nketia Things from Sydney on Sunday.

"At the moment, a lot of things are happening and we just have to sit down and talk."

In an interview with Things In February, Osei-Nketia said he wanted to represent New Zealand, which his father also did after changing allegiance from Ghana.

"I was born with Kiwis and Kiwis deserve great people to represent their country," he said at the time.

He also said Radio Sport Sunday: "Yesterday they have [Australian officials] I asked if there would be a chance that I represent Australia. I said I do not know. "

Once Osei-Nketia chooses his country, he is allowed to make a change, but not until he turns 20 years old.

The Oceania Championships are fast approaching, in June in Townsville, but no decision has yet been made as to whether Osei-Nketia will participate in this competition, as it of course also wants to be an All Black.

"We have not decided yet whether he will or will not, because he also has rugby commitments," Nketia said of the winger's future, which is already attracting attention. Hurricanes and the New Zealand Sevens program, while he continues to juggle codes.

"Honestly, he does not know what he wants to do." Today, he wants to play rugby, then he changes his mind and wants to run.

"It's hard for him, because he likes both sports, and when you get to the top, you can not do both, because they're two different trainings. [required]. "

If that was not enough in the family's plate, a dozen American colleges are lining up to welcome Osei-Nketia into their ranks. And it was even before his last exploits.

"If he decided to play rugby, New Zealand would be the best place to be," said Nketia. "But if he decides to make the track, we may have to look at the American college issue, because that's where the competitions are and everything else, you run the best." "

For the moment, Osei-Nketia stays in Canberra with her family for a break during the school holidays, after organizing what her father described as "the perfect race" in this semifinal.

"I can not describe how I felt," Nketia said, saying she was on hand to watch it unfold.

But despite seeing his boy run all week, there was room for a few words of wisdom before the race.

"I could see that he was standing, he was not relaxing, he was not letting him go.

"So I talked to him, I said," Look, you're running really well, so let yourself go. Relax and run. "And that's what he did."

It was then a question of trying to get the young enthusiast to settle down for the final.

"I had to get him out of the stadium, because that was too much, everyone wanted to tell him something," Nketia said. "So we went to the warm-up track and talked – do not talk about his sport, we were just talking about other things, I think we dropped it."

Nketia, whose son certainly remembers the "good old days," said that he was proud to see Osei-Nketia's hard work pay off and that his personal best time at the Commonwealth Games of 1994 was now ready to be broken.

"I still think he can go faster than that – he's young, I think it's just a matter of time and it's coming."

"I thought he was not ready for that, but after what I saw yesterday, it will not be long, I think, if he decides to .

"There are a lot of things that we have not done during training because of his age, we have everything planned, one step at a time, but he has a long way to go." we, then we may need to change steps. "