Walsh moves to world stage

Tom Walsh has the top two inches sorted. Now if the other 70-odd just play ball something special could be in store over the next three or four months.

The New Zealand shot put supremo leaves today to begin his offshore buildup for the international track and field season, with the obvious focal points being August’s world championships at the London Olympic Stadium and the historic US$3.2 million Diamond League finals soon after.

Coming off a 2016 campaign that surpassed almost everyone’s expectations -- with the possible exception of the man himself -- the world indoors champion, Diamond League overall winner and Olympic bronze medallist is ready to throw even further in 2017.

‘‘I’m in pretty good nick, and happy,’’ the 25-year-old Christchurch-based Timaru athlete declared before departing for the United States. ‘‘I’ve just squatted a PB in the gym, I deadlifted one as well, and in terms of distances throwing at the same time last year they are up by quite a bit. Hopefully that will translate into competition.’’

The only slight concern is a ‘‘niggly’’ left shoulder. ‘‘I can do 95 percent of what I need to in training, and it’s just some overhead

"You can throw as far as you want down here, no one cares till you throw big up on the other side of the world." Tom Walsh

stuff I can’t do. It’s not affecting me a huge amount, and it’s 10 times better than what it was six weeks ago,’’ he added.

Walsh will have a two-week training stint with top American Ryan Whiting in Phoenix, Arizona, and one local hitout in Tuscon before his first Diamond league meet for the season at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon (May 27).

Then it will be to Athens, Georgia, for more training before he heads to the Lausanne Diamond League meet (June 7), possibly an event in Athens, and then to the world championships in London (August 4-13).

After that he will finish the Diamond League programme, culminating in the grand final, and a shot at the US$50,000 winner’s cheque, in Brussels on September 1.

‘‘I get really excited at this time of year,’’ says Walsh. ‘‘The competitions we have down here are awesome, but you can throw as far as you want down here, no one cares till you throw big up on the other side of the world.

‘‘It’s always exciting to get away and start throwing against the big boys more often, and catching up with them as well because they’re all mates.’’

It’s an interesting dynamic in the men’s shot put community these days. There’s a brotherhood there in which they enjoy each other’s company almost as much as they do beating each other.

To that end, they all sit in the giant shadow cast by American Olympic gold medallist Ryan Crouser right now. He threw a phenomenal 22.52m to win in Rio, then in New Zealand over the summer he re-enforced his dominance by twice defeating Walsh in Christchurch and Auckland, and throwing past the 22-metre mark no less than five times.

But when it comes to Crouser’s emergence as the thrower they’re all chasing, Walsh is adamant he’s more inspired than intimidated.

‘‘He was throwing ridiculously well, and maybe 22m is his standard at the moment [he also threw 22.11m to win a recent meet in Kansas]. But I had 21.46 in the first comp, then a 21.80 in Auckland, with a 22m foul that was slightly annoying. I’m not a huge way behind him.

‘‘Being competitive is never a hard thing for me. That’s the stuff I run on. Since he’s in such good nick right now he may have a good start to the year but I know when I’m fresh and raring to go, which will be come July, I’ll be up around, if not past, my PB [22.21m], and that’s where you’ll need to be to have a chance to win the world champs.

‘‘The guys that are intimidated by what Ryan has been throwing are the guys you don’t want to intimidate because they’re the 20-metre flat guys. The guys it doesn’t intimidate are the 21.50-22m guys. It definitely inspires me.’’

Walsh hasn’t changed too much up this off-season under the theory that if it ain’t broke, you don’t tinker too much with it. His only disappointment in 2016 was Rio where he had to settle for bronze with a best of 21.36m, but a series of consistently big throws postGames confirmed that was more a blip on the graph than anything seriously wrong.

‘‘I’ve changed my routine a little before I throw, but the main stuff we’re tweaking is the mental side of things with my sports psychologist John Quinn. We try have an A and B plan, and if those two aren’t working we’ve got a few other things to turn to.

‘‘You can do as much training as you want and be in the best shape of your life but if the top two inches are not there, you’re not going to do that well.’’

Walsh appears to have his mind and body in sync. He has thrived on having a training partner in Christchurch in youngster Ryan Ballantyne and is fuelled to deliver, not only on the big stage in London, but to defend his Diamond League crown as well.

‘‘I’m not worried about missing out on a medal now,’’ he says. ‘‘I’m more focused on the colour of the medal, rather than just getting a medal.’’

As good as gold, you could say.