Walsh claims fourth successive Diamond League victory
Kiwi Tom Walsh once again revealed his formidable competitive mettle to secure a second successive Diamond League win this season with victory at the Golden Gala meeting in Florence, Italy today.
Walsh left his best for the day when it most counted, hurling the shot out to 21.47m in the Final 3 shoot out to finish more than half-a-metre clear of Serbian Armin Sinancevic (20.93m). Home thrower Leonardo Fabbri of Italy, who had topped the qualifiers with a best of 21.71m, had to settle for a third with a modest 19.82m in the final.
The 29-year-old New Zealander did not quite recapture the form which saw him secure his first 22m throw since the 2019 World Championships in Nashville on Monday morning (NZ time).
However, a best effort of 21.43m in qualification (achieved in round three) earned him third spot and the right to take on Fabbri and Sinancevic in the Final 3 tussle with $10,000 (US) up for grabs for the winner.
Walsh, who was first to throw in the final, put the heat on his two opponents with a handy 21.47m, effort, a throw which proved enough for his fourth successive Diamond League victory. The Kiwi also triumphed at the Doha Diamond League last month and at the tail-end of the 2019 season in Paris and Brussels.
On the new Diamond League format, Tom said: “This new Diamond League final already worked in my favour twice, so I’m happy about it.
“You have to play with what it’s front of you, it seems to work for me alright, but I know for a lot of other throwers, fans, and other throwing athletes maybe not the happiest about it, but it’s great to be able to showcase just Shot Put at a Diamond League event, just for 5 minutes.”
Note, Diamond League rules for the horizontal jumps and throws operate under a new format called The Final 3. This means the three athletes with the longest throws/jumps during the qualifying stage of the competition meet in a final where all the previous results will be cleared as they battle it out for first, second and third place.