Grimaldi soars, Gill defeats Walsh
PARA-ATHLETE Anna Grimaldi set a New Zealand record of 5.78m in the long jump for the T47 category at the International track meet at Nga Puna Wai, in Christchurch, last night.
The 23-year from Dunedin, who won a gold medal at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, had a previous best of 5.72m.
As soon as she completed her jump, Grimaldi looked elated and after a lengthy delay, where two tape measures were needed to confirm the distance, it was announced that she had set a new New Zealand record.
Jacko Gill again defeated Tom Walsh in the shot put – the third time in a row he has beaten Walsh in competition, with the 26-year-old from Auckland having a best throw of 21.52m. Walsh’s best was 21.41m.
The result continues the turnaround of the pecking order although Gill afterwards played down this victory.
‘‘I’m stoked to get the win against Tom, he’s the best we’ve had,’’ Gill said. ‘‘So any time I can beat him, it means I’m doing pretty well. I think he’s in a bit of a heavier phase and I’m in a lighter phase. So we’re not quite squared up at our full potential yet.
‘‘I think there’s more to come from both of us and I think he’s got a bit more to improve, so I’m looking for him to throw 22m plus soon.’’
It was a combined shot put event, with Dame Valerie Adams comfortably winning the women’s event. The 36-year-old Adams’s first throw was 18.30m, her second was 18.41m, and her third went for 18.15m.
She couldn’t better 18.41m in her last three throws, so was unable to reach the automatic qualifying distance for the Olympic Games of 18.50m.
However, as she achieved the mark last year, before the Games were postponed, she has already confirmed her spot in Tokyo.
‘‘Consistently better tonight, I was hoping for a bit more,’’ Adams said afterwards.
‘‘We’re working on a few things, it didn’t come together tonight unfortunately.
‘‘But this is a step in the right direction for me and I need to keep working and I’m looking forward to the next competition to continue to build on that.’’
In the big track event of the night, Eddie Osei-Nketia just pipped Tiaan Whelpton in the men’s 200m race. The two were well ahead of the field, with Whelpton leading for most the race. However, Osei-Nketia finished strongly.
For a while it looked as though it could have been a dead heat, but then the timings came through, with Osei-Nketia timed at 21.24 seconds and Whelpton at 21.28.
It was sweet revenge for OseiNketia, who lost to Whelpton in the 100m race two weeks ago.
Earlier during the meet, which took place in front of a big crowd, Whelpton, Osei-Nketia, Joseph Millar and Hamish Gill attempted to break the New Zealand 4x100m record.
The previous record was held by Dallas Roberts, David
Falealili, James Dolphin, Chris Donaldson, set in Sydney in 2005, with a time of 38.99 seconds.
However, they never got a chance of challenging that, as the baton was dropped.
In the men’s discus Connor Bell’s best attempt was 63.94m.