Lispole lad shows rare talent in a weighty contest
IT’S only a year ago since Kieran Keane from Lispole first tried his hand at the shot putt, using a rounded stone from Minard as a shot, and already he is setting records that belie his age and experience.
On Sunday Kieran set a new under-13 record at the Munster Indoor Athletics Championships in Nenagh with a mighty throw of 11.76m that crushed the previous 11.31m record which had endured for five years. It was a huge achievement for someone new to the sport, but all the more remarkable considering he is an 11-year-old in an age bracket that puts him up against older and much more experienced competitors.
Kieran’s shot putt career couldn’t have started in a simpler fashion: he picked up a round stone from the beach at Minard last year and started throwing it. It was obvious from the start that he had “a bit of a knack for it” and soon afterwards he competed with the Castleisland-based An Ríocht Athletic Club at a shot putt competition in Milltown. He had a confidence-boosting win there and went on to win nine competitions in a row, including county and Munster titles, before rounding out an exceptional debut year by coming fifth at All-Ireland level.
With his father Vincent in the role of coach, Kieran trains for 20 minutes a day, five days a week, throwing his 2kg steel shot on the road outside his family home in Lispole or weightlifting in the shed. It’s a
“train, don’t strain”, regime that will prepare him for his next big competition, the National Indoor Championships in Athlone next month. He will face competition from bigger lads in Athlone, but his prospects are good with Vincent noting that “people are looking at him and shaking their heads… they don’t know how he can be so good at such a young age”.