News & Updates

Connor Bell maintained his red-hot form of 2023 by adding a further 9cm to his senior men’s national discus record with a superb second round toss of 66.23m to claim an emphatic victory at the Maurie Plant meet in Geelong, Australia.

Just 35 days after claiming the 21-year-old senior men’s national record from Ian Winchester with a 66.14m effort in Hastings, the throwing titan further underlined his growing foothold on the global scene to inflict a heavy defeat on Australia’s Commonwealth champion Matt Denny (62.73m).

The Kiwi put together a very tidy series; 64.07m, 66.23m, foul, 64.20m, 63.66m and a foul. 

For Bell it was a 21^st national record of his career (including national senior, national resident and age-group marks) and it edged him closer to the entry standard of 67.00m for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August,

The discus took place the day before the main programme of the Maurie Plant meet, which will feature 14 Kiwis at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne tomorrow (Thursday).

Auckland-based Bell, who owns New Zealand men’s senior, U20, U19, U18 and U17 discus records, will be one of the big names in action at the Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Wellington (2-5 March) as he seeks a hat-trick of senior men’s discus titles.

***Below are the entry lists and schedule for the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne on Thursday.

Entry Lists here

 Schedule here