Walsh up for top prize after excellent season
Tom Walsh has his eye on one more big prize for 2018.
The Kiwi shot put ace’s scintillating year on the international track and field circuit has been acknowledged with a nomination for the IAAF’s male world athlete of the year award,
The Christchurch-based Timaru athlete is one of 10 nominees shortlisted for the big prize, and shapes as a warm contender on the back of his triple crown of global titles for the year.
Walsh had a superb season that required an early peak and a sustained formline, defending his world indoors title in Birmingham in March, claiming Commonwealth Games gold in Queensland in April and then going on to nail the Diamond League crown in Zurich at the end of August.
Walsh threw with sustained excellence throughout the year, breaking the 22m mark at six meets, and winning 16 of the 23 competitions he entered. He also had the year’s two biggest throws and three of the top four, following that 22.67m in Auckland with 22.60 to win the Diamond League title in Zurich and 22.45 in qualifying at the Commonwealth Games.
The Kiwi’s 22.67m in Auckland was significant on several fronts. It was the equal seventh biggest distance in the history of the sport, ranked him the equal sixth best thrower all-time and may well be the furthest a clean athlete has thrown.
It is 28 years since anyone has thrown further than the 22.67m mark in the sport, and everyone ahead of, or on a par with him on the all-time list, falls conclusively under the dubious cloud of the sport’s drug-use era.
The five ahead all competed in the pre-drugs testing era from 1975-90 that is widely considered tarnished and the man he shares his mark with (American Kevin Toth) ended his career with a twoyear ban following a positive test for tetrahydrogestrinone.
‘‘I don’t think it’s going to get much better than this,’’ he said of his campaign. ‘‘Not much has gone wrong this year. There are always the ‘if onlys’, and I know I’ve got improvements I can still make to get some more distance out there.’’
The other nominees for the award are Kenyan 1500m ace Timothy Cheruiyot, US sprinter Christian Coleman, Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, Kenyan marathon exponent Eliud Kipchoge, Kenyan 800m man Emmanuel Korir, American 200m runner Noah Lyles, South African long jumper Luvo Manyonga, French decathlete Kevin Mayer and Qatar 400m hurdler Abderrahman Samba.
Walsh’s achievements should put him among the lead contenders for the prize which will be decided on a mixture of votes from within the sport and from social media. Five finalists will be announced on November 13, with the supreme male and female winners crowned at the IAAF’s awards night.