Simon Roderick Poelman (born 27 May 1963, Hamilton ) is a former New Zealand decathlete , who has been described as New Zealand's best ever all-round athlete.[1] In the decathlon , his personal best of 8359 points (which is adjusted from 8366 points as it was hand timed) is still a New Zealand national record.[2] This was set at the national athletics championships in Christchurch 1987. As well as being the national decathlon champion seven times. He was also the New Zealand senior men's national champion in several individual events including the 100m (once), 110m hurdles (seven times), long jump (twice), pole vault (three times), and shot put (once).
He won the bronze medal at the 1986 Commonwealth games in Edinburgh[1] and at the 1990 Commonwealth games he won both the silver medal for decathlon and bronze in the pole vault. At the time of the Seoul Olympics he was ranked fourth in the world at decathlon, but had a bad start when a series of false starts led to a slow 100m time in his heat, and he finished in 16th place on 8021 points.[1]
In 1998, Poelman was convicted of importing ecstasy tablets with a value of $NZ200,000 and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He initially denied the charges but later confessed.[3]
Poelman returned to competitive athletics in 2004, setting a world age-group record, breaking a 23-year world record, for the decathlon.
He was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
Personal bests
Event
Points
Place
Date
Decathlon
8366 (ht) NR
Christchurch
1987
Pole Vault
5.00
Tokyo
1991
References
^ a b c Salmistu, Janek. "Simon Poelman's biography". Decathlon 2000 . Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016 .
^ http://www.anzrankings.org.nz/ NZ athletics rankings (Search Decathlon/Open Mens/All time)
^ "Athlete comes clean about drug past". Sunday . TVNZ. 15 November 2004. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2008 .
External links
Performances over 8000 points
New Zealand national champions in men's 100 m
Note: 100 yards before 1970
100 yards 100 metres
New Zealand national champions in men's 110 m hurdles
Note: 120 yards before 1970
120 yards
1888: Godfrey Shaw
1889–1891: Harold Batger
1892–1893: W.J. Moir
1894: Harold Batger
1895–1896: W.H. Martin
1897–1898: Arthur Holder
1899–1900: George Smith
1901: Matthew Roseingrave (AUS)
1902: George Smith
1903: F.S. Harley
1904: George Smith
1905: T. Craig
1906: Gerald Keddell
1907–1908: H.T. Cook
1909: Gerald Keddell
1910: A. Evensen
1911–1913: Gerald Keddell
1914: Philip Doyle
1915: Arthur Halligan
1916–1919: not held
1920–1921: Harry Wilson
1922: Wilfred Buckhurst
1923: George Krogness (USA)
1924–1929: Roger Lander
1930: Stan Ramson
1931: Alex Darby
1932: Jack Shirley
1933: G. McGregor
1934: Frank Sharpley
1935: Philip Bowie
1936: Frank Sharpley
1937–1938: Philip Bowie
1939–1940: Frank Sharpley
1941–1944: not held
1945: G. Hunter
1946–1948: Arthur Eustace
1949: Lionel Smith
1950–1952: John Holland
1953–1954: Ashley Taylor
1955: John Holland
1956: Douglas Taylor
1957: Wayne Belcher
1958: Paul Dallow
1959: J. Bulcraig
1960–1962: Paul Dallow
1963: H. Twigley
1964: Logan Aikman
1965: Roy Williams
1966: Mike Walls
1967–1969: Ross Pownall
110 metres
1970–1978: Ross Pownall
1979: Mark Miron
1980: Phillip Mills
1981–1982: Tim Soper
1983: William Fong (SAM)
1984: Tim Soper
1985–1988: Simon Poelman
1989–1991: Grant McNeil
1992: Simon Poelman
1993: Karl Schlierling
1994: Simon Poelman
1995: Nick Bolton
1996: Simon Poelman
1997–1999: Liam Whaley
2000: Zhang Feng (CHN)
2001: Tony Pownall
2002: Liam Whaley
2003–2009: James Mortimer
2010–2012: Brent Newdick
2013–2014: Michael Cochrane
2015–2019: Joshua Hawkins
2020: James Sandilands
2021–2024: Joshua Hawkins
New Zealand national champions in men's long jump
1888: Thomas Harman
1889: Leonard Cuff
1890: Thomas Harman
1891–1892: Thomas Frederick Upfill
1893: Ross Gore
1894: Wally Mendelson
1895: Jack Ryan
1896–1897: Leonard Cuff
1898: Alan Good
1899: Robert Brownlee
1900: Peter Buck
1901: Matthew Roseingrave
1902: Cuthbert Harper
1903: Peter Buck
1904: Morrie Wood
1905: Matthew Roseingrave
1906: Gerald Keddell
1907–1908: Len McKay
1909: Gerald Keddell
1910: Frederick Cecil Hubbard
1911–1913: Gerald Keddell
1914: A. McLeod
1915: Frederick Cecil Hubbard
1916–1919: not held
1920: Ernest Sutherland
1921: William Christopher John Perry
1922: Ernest Sutherland
1923: Wilfred Buckhurst
1924: Charles Eugene Low
1925: Walter Wilton
1926: Jack Shirley
1927–1928: Ernest Sutherland
1929: R.H. Neville
1930: Douglas William Ashley Barker
1931: George Sullivan
1932–1934: Alister Cameron
1935: Tim Crowe
1936: Alister Cameron
1937: Kenshi Togami (JPN)
1938–1940: Harry Wilkins
1941–1944: not held
1945: Max Carr
1946–1947: Pat Vaughan Goddard
1948: Dave Dephoff
1949: Bevin Hough
1952–1953: Dave Dephoff
1954: R. Webb
1955: R Wilkinson
1956: P. Price
1957: A. Bell
1958: Roy Williams
1959: Lawrence Croxson
1960–1961: Dave Norris
1962: Lawrence Croxson
1963–1964: Dave Norris
1965: Bob Thomas
1966: Dave Norris
1967: Bob Thomas
1968: Dave Norris
1969: Bob Thomas
1970–1971: Dave Norris
1972: David Dewe
1973–1975: Kerry Hill
1976–1977: Ronald Davis
1978: Roger Knaggs
1979: Kenneth Youngson
1980–1986: Steve Walsh
1987–1988: Simon Poelman
1989–1990: Will Hinchcliff
1991–1992: Jon Moyle
1993: Nigel Park
1994: Jon Moyle
1995–1998: Aaron Langdon
1999: Jon Moyle
2000–2001: Aaron Langdon
2002: François Coetzee (RSA)
2003: Nigel Park
2004: François Coetzee (RSA)
2005: Brent Newdick
2006: François Coetzee (RSA)
2007: Brent Newdick
2008–2011: Frédéric Erin (NCL)
2012: Brent Newdick
2013–2014: Matthew Wyatt
2015: Jordan Peters
2016: Matthew Wyatt
2017: Jesse Bryant
2018–2019: Jordan Peters
2020: Felix McDonald
2021: Shay Veitch
2022: Felix McDonald
2023: Shay Veitch
2024: Felix McDonald
New Zealand national champions in men's pole vault
1890: Dugald McDonald Robertson
1891: Fred Upfill
1892–1893: William McDonald West
1894–1895: Henry Lowther Kingsley
1896: Robert James Hunter / Henry Lowther Kingsley
1897: Jimmy Te Paa / Hori Eruera
1898: Hori Eruera
1899: Jimmy Te Paa
1900: Charlie Laurie
1901: Henry Prebble
1902: Charlie Laurie
1903: Arthur Keating
1904: Charlie Laurie
1905: Jack McLachlan
1906: Charlie Laurie
1907: Len McKay
1908: E. McKay
1909–1911: Len McKay
1912: Geoff Giller
1913: Len McKay
1914: Harold Henry Whitaker / George Harvey
1915: George Harvey
1916–1919: not held
1920–1925: George Harvey
1926–1928: Bill Batstone
1929: Ernest Sutherland
1930: Bill Batstone
1931: Frank Brady
1932–1933: Bill Batstone
1934: L.E. Smith
1935: Fred Barraclough
1936: Minden Vaughan Blake
1937: Jack Opie
1938–1939: Fred Barraclough
1940: David Weichert
1941–1944: not held
1945–1947: Wallace Heron
1948: Les Fagg
1949–1950: Wallace Heron
1951: George Martin
1952–1962: Merv Richards
1963–1965: Kevin Gibbons
1966: Darcy McGonagle
1967–1970: Kevin Gibbons
1971–1973: Darcy McGonagle
1974: Peter Tracy
1975: Robert Gibson
1976–1980: Mike Ritchie
1981–1985: Keiran McKee
1986–1988: Simon Poelman
1989: Ian Streat
1990: Derek McKee
1991: Paul Gibbons
1992: Olivier Ball
1993–1994: Paul Gibbons
1995: Yasuhiro Oshima (JPN)
1996–1997: Paul Gibbons
1998: Yasuhiro Oshima (JPN)
1999–2001: Paul Gibbons
2002: Craig Merrilees
2003–2004: Paul Gibbons
2005: Jacobus Nel
2006–2007: Jeremy McColl
2008: Jacobus Nel
2009–2011: Brent Newdick
20012–2013: Nick Southgate
2014: Thomas North
2015–2018: Nick Southgate
2019–2020: James Steyn
2021: Ettiene Du Preez
2022: Nick Southgate
2023–2024: James Steyn
New Zealand national champions in men's shot put
New Zealand national champions in men's decathlon
1949–1951: Dave Dephoff
1952–1955: Graeme Lawless
1956–1961: Roy Williams
1962–1963: Murray Speden
1964: Robin Ball
1965–1967: Roy Williams
1968: Ross Pownall
1969–1970: Roy Williams
1971: Paul Lothian
1972–1977: Mene Mene
1978: Robert Sadler
1979: Mike Ritchie
1980: Robert Sadler
1981–1982: Grant Connon
1983: Paul Wilson
1984–1987: Simon Poelman
1988–1989: Terry Lomax
1990–1992: Simon Poelman
1993: Doug Pirini
1994: Grant Chapman
1995–1996: Doug Pirini
1997: Gene Pateman
1998: Doug Pirini
1999: Gene Pateman
2000: Sean Gourley
2001: David Hansen
2002: Sean Gourley
2003: Scott McLaren
2004: Peter Cox
2005–2006: Brent Newdick
2007: not held
2008: Kyle McCarthy
2009–2011: Brent Newdick
2012: Nicholas Gerrard
2013: Scott McLaren
2014: Keisuke Ushiro (JPN)
2015: Brent Newdick
2016: Keisuke Ushiro (JPN)
2017: Max Attwell
2018: Keisuke Ushiro (JPN)
2019–2021: Max Attwell
2022: Aaron Booth