The adrenaline was still pumping, his brain was running at a million miles an hour and he was still getting to grips with what he just achieved.
The Otago long jumper produced the jump of his career, a leap of 7.99m in the men’s long jump at the Sir Graham Douglas International in Auckland. He won silver behind Australia’s Liam Adcock, who jumped 8.18m.
The mark catapulted Veitch up the national rankings from sixth to second-equal with Aaron Langdon, who jumped 7.99m in 1998.
It added a whopping 16cm to Veitch’s personal best, ranked him second in Oceania, set an Otago record, and put him that much closer to chasing down the national record of 8.05m set by Bob Thomas in 1968 — one of the oldest national track and field records.
For international context, Veitch’s jump would have secured him fifth place at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
"It was fun to get out there and pull it out — I couldn’t be any more happy," Veitch said.
"I think that has to be the best long jump competition on New Zealand soil ever. It was fun to be a part of that."
Veitch had a frustrating past month and leadup to the competition, jumping well below what he was capable of.
He knew he had a big jump in him and delivered when it mattered most.
"The long jump’s right in front of the grandstand and the crowd was very engaged, and I knew that the field was going to be competitive.
"I knew something was definitely there. I just had to pull it all together."
Veitch also won race three of the men’s 100m with his time of 10.54sec.
The Otago men’s 4x100m relay team — John Gerber, Fergus McLeay, Jackson Rogers and Felix McDonald — came second behind Australia.
Gerber also came second in the men’s 100m (race two) with 10.61sec and Rogers won silver in the men’s 400m (race two) with 48.70sec.
McLeay (48.30sec) and Gerber (48.35sec) also finished fourth and fifth respectively in the men’s 400m (race three).
Olympian Anna Grimaldi won gold in the para 100m, with her time of 12.67sec. She placed fourth in the women’s long jump with her jump of 5.87m.
Veitch hoped he would be able to gain a late entry to compete at the Australian championships later this month.
In other notable results, Jacko Gill claimed the shotput crown over long-time rival Tom Walsh with a stunning opening throw of 22.12m.
The 28-year-old threw a personal best to make it two in a row over Walsh following his upset at the nationals in Wellington.
Gill eclipsed his previous personal best of 21.90m at the Commonwealth Games last year.
The wet and windy conditions badly hampered the eagerly awaited women's pole vault showdown as Eliza McCartney took top spot with 4.46m.
Olivia McTaggart, who cleared a new PB and world championship entry standard of 4.71m at the Auckland Championships on Saturday, missed out on her opening height, as did Imogen Ayris, paving the way for McCartney to clear 4.46m and nab top spot.
Wrapping up the meet was the women's 100m, with all eyes on Zoe Hobbs who recently twice broke the 11sec barrier.
Hobbs managed to win in 11.2sec, despite the conditions.
