Walsh gunning for Crouser
Eugene, Oregon, on May 26, with a best throw of 21.84 metres. It was his worst finish since he trailed home sixth in the DL finale in Brussels at the end of 2017, and easily his low point of 2018 after having a streak of nine straight victories snapped by a runner-up finish at the Drake Relays meet in Des Moines.
The 26-year-old has been taking stock of his rare misfire post-Eugene and using it to stoke his motivational fires heading into Oslo where he will renew acquaintances with staunch American rival Ryan Crouser who has won their two head-toheads this year and once again looks the man to beat among a growing group at the top of men’s shot put.
‘‘It’s good just to have things checked, and make sure you’re doing the right things still,’’ Walsh told from Oslo. ‘‘One thing I asked myself after [Eugene] was ‘am I taking shortcuts, am I cutting some corners, am I not doing some things that have made me good the last few years?’.
‘‘The resounding answer was I’m still doing everything I need to do. For some reason I just didn’t line it up on the day.’’
It wasn’t all doom and gloom in Oregon. Walsh did blast his final throw out past 22m, but just fell out of the circle. And, as he noted, ‘‘the fact 21.84 isn’t good enough any more shows how far men’s shot put has come in the last few years. But I underperformed. I was in 22-metre shape and didn’t throw 22.’’
He was also beaten by Crouser for the second time in as many outings this year.
The American Olympic champion threw 22.01m to shade Walsh in Des Moines and then 22.53 to emerge victorious in Eugene. Only the Kiwi, with his seismic 22.67m in Auckland in March, has thrown further than Crouser’s winning toss in Oregon.
‘‘I missed my chance at both comps,’’ says Walsh, practically kicking himself as we speak. ‘‘It’s not where I want to be. I don’t want to be on the losing end of the stick. But at the moment he’s got the better of me.’’
Walsh and Crouser will be joined by Americans Joe Kovacs and Darrell Hill and top Europeans David Storl, Tomas Stanek and Stipe Zunic, among others, in Oslo.