News & Updates

It was one and done for Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill, who both qualified for the men’s shot put final with their first round throws at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

Tom sailed through with a first-round throw of 21.92m, well over the auto-qualifying distance of 20.90m.

Tom said it was exactly what he wanted to do: “You want to come out tonight and throw one and get it over and done with and put the feet up as fast as I can, so that’s what I managed to do along with three other guys.”

Jacko Gill threw 21.12m in his first attempt in Group B, clearing the auto-qualifying mark of 20.90m.

Jacko said it was a good start and he is looking forward to the final. “It’s feeling good. Still a lot to learn, a few things I could do better for the final, so we’ll sit down to make those changes.”

Athletics New Zealand camp in Cyprus and training alongside Tom were part of the 24 year old’s preparations for the event: “It was really awesome to train with Tom and having everything literally outside of the hotel room was really good, so I’m very lucky to be on those camps and have the best preparation possible.”

Jacko added that it was good to be back. “I doubted myself a lot when I was sick so it’s nice to be out here now. It was a long road back, I’ve been through some pretty dark places, so it means a lot more than what it did at my first one [world championships] so I’m really happy to be here.”

As reigning world shot put champion both indoors and out and the current Commonwealth gold medallist, Tom Walsh has forged a formidable championship record in recent times. However, a record-breaking nine men (including Tom) have thrown beyond 22m this year.

12 throwers across the two qualifying groups cleared 20.90m to qualify for the men’s shot put final.

The final is on Saturday local time (Sunday, 7.05am NZT).