Tomas Walsh

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Tomas Walsh
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Tomas Walsh after winning gold at the 2016 World Indoor Championships
Personal information
Nationality New Zealand
Born (1992-03-01) 1 March 1992 (age 32)
Timaru, New Zealand
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight 120 kg (260 lb) (2014)[1]
Sport
Country  New Zealand
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Shot put
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 21.62 m (outdoor)
21.78 m (indoor)
Medal record
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Portland Shot put
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Sopot Shot put
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow Shot put

Tomas "Tom" Walsh (born 1 March 1992)[1] is a New Zealand athlete who competes mainly in the shot put.[2] He is the current national record holder both outdoors and indoors for the event.[3][4] His personal best of 21.58 m (70 ft 9​1⁄2 in) is also the Oceanian record.

Walsh was 4th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, the bronze medallist at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Biography

Walsh made his international debut at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he placed sixth in his shot put speciality and also competed in the qualifying of the discus throw.[5] On 12 December 2009 Walsh recorded a put of 20.21 m (66 ft 3​1⁄2 in) the 5 kg shot to win the Senior Boys title at the New Zealand National Secondary School Track and Field Championships. This performance was a New Zealand Youth (Under 18) record which was broken the following day by Jacko Gill when winning the Junior Boys (Under 16) title.

Walsh broke the New Zealand junior record on 18 March 2010 with a put of 18.82 m (61 ft 8​3⁄4 in) with the 6 kg shot but this was broken 9 days late by Gill with 19.92 m (65 ft 4​1⁄4 in). At the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics Walsh failed to qualify for the final of the shot put which was won by Gill.[6][7][8]

In 2012 Walsh won his first senior national shot put title which he retained the following season and also added the discus title. On 12 December 2013 Walsh broke Gill's New Zealand senior shot put record with 20.61 m (67 ft 7​1⁄4 in) in Melbourne, Australia[9] which he improved with 21.16 m (69 ft 5 in) on 22 March 2014, also in Melbourne.[10]

At the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, in his first senior international competition and first ever competition indoors,[11] Walsh finished third in the men's shot put.[12] He set an indoor national record of 20.41 m (66 ft 11​1⁄2 in) in the qualifying round and improved upon this mark three times in the final finishing with 21.26 m (69 ft 9 in) which was an Oceanian indoor record and the same distance as the Oceanian outdoor record.[4][13]

Later in 2014, Walsh improved his outdoor personal best and the New Zealand record with 21.23 m (69 ft 7​3⁄4 in) at the 2014 IAAF Diamond League meet in Glasgow on 11 July,[14] before improving again to 21.24 m (69 ft 8 in) on 27 July, during the qualifying round at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which was a Commonwealth Games record.[15] In the final, Walsh won the silver medal behind O'Dayne Richards.[16]

In 2015, Walsh defended his New Zealand shot put title with a throw of 20.73 m (68 ft 0 in) on 8 March,[17] before setting a new Oceanian record of 21.37 m (70 ft 1​1⁄4 in) on 21 March at the Melbourne Track Classic.[18]

Walsh finished fourth at the 2015 World Championships on 23 August in Beijing, throwing a new personal best of 21.58m.[19] He was just 11 cm off the bronze medal. He improved his personal best to 21.62m on 8 September in winning the shot put at the Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb.[20] On 11 September Walsh won his first Diamond League meet with a throw of 21.39m in Brussels.[21]

In the 2016 World Indoor Championships, Walsh won the gold medal with a throw of 21.78m, breaking his own New Zealand national and Oceania area indoor records three times in the process.

Personal bests

Outdoor
Indoor
  • Shot put – 21.78 m (71 ft 5​1⁄4 in) (2016) AR NR

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2009 World Youth Championships Brixen, Italy 6th Shot put (5 kg) 19.60 m
31st (q) Discus throw (1.5 kg) 48.83 m
2010 World Junior Championships Moncton, Canada 16th (q) Shot put (6 kg) 17.92 m
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 3rd Shot put 21.26 m
Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 2nd Shot put 21.19 m
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 4th Shot put 21.58 m
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, United States 1st Shot put 21.78 m
National titles
  • Shot put: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • Discus throw: 2013

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 2014 CWG profile
  2. ↑ Tomas Walsh. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
  3. ↑ New Zealand Athletics Records: Men Open (Outdoor)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tom Walsh claims brilliant bronze for NZ. Stuff.co.nz (8 March 2014). Retrieved on 2014-03-09.
  5. ↑ World Youth Championships 2009. World Junior Athletic History. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Tomas Walsh. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Jacko Gill. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
  8. ↑ World Junior Championships 2010. WJAH. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Len (12 December 2013). Shot putter Walsh shares spotlight with distance runners at Zatopek:10. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-09.
  10. ↑ (2014-03-23). [1]. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 23 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Lewis, Paul (9 March 2014). Athletics: Bronze is pure gold. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 2014-03-09.
  12. ↑ IAAF World Indoor Championships 2014: Shot Put Men – Final
  13. ↑ Minshull, Phil (8 March 2014). Report: men's shot put final – Sopot 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-09.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ NZ athletes on record spree in Melbourne. Retrieved on 22 March 2015.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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