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It is a little hard to believe only six weeks prior to Eddie Osei-Nketia smashing the long-standing New Zealand men’s 100m record held by his father at the World Athletics Championships he was contemplating wrapping up his season prematurely.

Embarrassed by his 100m performance in a pre-Oceania Area Championships meeting in the Gold Coast, where the 21-year-old sprint ace had recorded 10.41 and been convincingly beaten by his fellow Kiwi Tiaan Whelpton, precipitated a swirl of negative thoughts.

“That second to last race before Oceania Champs I didn’t run so well, I didn’t have the confidence and I almost decided to quit, go home and focus on my winter season,” admits Eddie. “I was scared (to race) and embarrassed, especially after that performance. I thought I’m not showing good progression, I’m not going to run (for the rest of the season). But my dad (and coach, Gus) spoke to me and said not too, I should carry on competing and give it my all.”

The wise and calming words of his father, who had held the New Zealand 100m record since 1994 having run 10.11 at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, proved sound advice. Eddie knuckled down to training and refocused.

Hunting a 100m gold medal at the Oceania Area Championships in Mackay, which would have offered a ticket to the World Championships, he was desperately disappointed to win silver and for several weeks after, he faced the agonising wait of knowing his only route into the New Zealand team for Eugene was via world rankings.

For several weeks he jumped online every couple of hours on the World Athletics website to check his current ranking. Some days there would be little change then on others he saw a regression in his position. It was an emotionally draining process until one night next to his name appeared the four words he was longing for ‘qualified by world ranking.’

“I just felt so happy that I was going to the USA,” he says. “I did not have a great season, I was intrigued and shocked to make the World Championships.”

There on the biggest stage at the fabled Hayward Field, Eddie seized his opportunity in his first round heat. Fully focused on the goal of securing one of the three automatic spots to advance to the semi-finals he was drawn in the adjacent lane to Kenyan 9.77 sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala. However, he refused to be fazed by the experience and running a race of huge maturity he flashed across the line in the second of the three automatic qualification sports, recording 10.08 to wipe 0.03 from his father’s 28-year-old national record.

It was an unforgettable moment for New Zealand men’s sprinting, and one which he admits was executed with the power of a song in his head.

“It is a funny thing, but a way I try to stay relaxed and not tighten up in races is to sing to myself,” explains Eddie. “It is a last-minute thing, I decide before I’m about to race. It could be a rock song or a rap song but at World Championships I decided on R U Mine by the Arctic Monkeys.

It worked. Eddie set the national record to finish 0.10 behind Abdul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan – (coincidentally like Eddie, Sani Brown has Ghanaian descent) and 0.02 ahead of Omanyala.

It was a wonderful moment for the New Zealand champion, but as he crossed the line, did he know he had run a fast time?

“I beat most of my competition, so I knew it was a fast race, although I didn’t expect it to be a record-breaking race,” he recalls. “As soon as I heard over the stadium commentary that I was second, that was good and then when I heard I was New Zealand record-holder I was so relieved, so chilled and relaxed.”

Post-race he gently made fun of his dad that he had now claimed his national record, so what were Gus’ thoughts?

“He was just so proud and really happy,” he says.

Eddie and Gus have a close relationship. Based in Canberra, Gus has coached Eddie throughout his career with Gary Henley-Smith also offering a key guiding hand when the New Zealand champion was studying at Scots College in Wellington and who still acts as a mentor today.

Gus, who also works as a bus driver, arrived from Ghana to compete at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland and later switched allegiance to represent New Zealand. In 1994 he set his national record in Victoria and went on to finish seventh in the Commonwealth final. In 1995 he made the World Championship semi-finals and a World Indoor 60 final, placing sixth, before going on to make the Olympic quarter finals in Atlanta. For Eddie, Gus is definitely the best man to guide him through his career.

“He is using all that experience from the 1990s and 2000s to get me to where he is,” says Eddie. “He is hard working, motivated and knows how to get the best out of his athletes.”

Training six days a week – four times on the track and twice a week in the gym – with every Sunday off is a routine that has served him well. However, Eddie, who eventually exited the semi-finals at the World Championships, recording a time of 10.29 for seventh, is not satisfied and is very keen to make changes in order to make to maximise his natural power and speed.

“The World Championships does give me a lot of confidence that I can achieve more in the future,” explains the University of Canberra Physical Education student. “But I know I need to be a more professional athlete, become more mature and more strict.”

He admits he needs to cut out the chocolate and lollies – he’s a big fan of Cadbury chocolate – and he needs to improve on his sleep patterns in which a midnight bedtime and 9am wake up is currently the norm.

“I know I need to be better with nutrition and sleeping, but I’ve still managed to run 10.08, so imagine what I can run when I tighten up on these areas a little bit.”