Walsh refuses to dish dirt

Tom Walsh insists he isn’t chasing shadows as he closes on the men’s shot put world record.

The New Zealander is out to win gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and knows he’s in the form that could push him close to the world record, which has stood for 28 years.

That mark was set at 23.12 metres by drug cheat Randy Barnes of the US.

Walsh set a new personal best throw of 22.67 metres in Auckland late last month – the equal ninth-best throw in men’s shot put history – which led to US rival Ryan Whiting calling it the ‘‘clean world record’’.

Walsh wasn’t having any of that. ‘‘I hate that ... I hate that,’’ he said yesterday.

‘‘Look, the world record is 23.12 – he may have been done for drugs – but it is the world record, and I intend to break that world record.

‘‘If it was a dirty world record, it wouldn’t be there, would it?’’

"If it was a dirty world record, it wouldn't be there, would it?"

Tom Walsh

The list of the best throws in men’s shot put history almost exclusively feature athletes who either failed drug tests or were linked with drug use throughout a period of inadequate testing. Walsh’s heave in Auckland was the best throw in the past 15 years since Kevin Toth of the US recorded the same distance.

The following year, Toth was suspended for a positive drugs test and retired.

There is a proposal to the IAAF that all pre-2005 world records be wiped from existence, due to inadequate drug testing before that date, which would leave Walsh top of the ladder with a world record.

The 26-year-old from Timaru said he’s drug-tested ‘‘on average, every four to six weeks’’.

‘‘I have been drug tested twice in one day - morning and night.

‘‘The way New Zealand does it and the way a lot of the world does it is very good. I can’t comment on Eastern European countries because I haven’t really been there a helluva lot. I know that America does it really well, Europe does it pretty well.

‘‘I’m happy that all the guys are clean.’’

Walsh said he’s part of a changing of the guard in men’s shot put.

‘‘For many years the shot put world was Tomasz Majewski, Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson, Christian Cantwell.

‘‘All of those guys kinda retired at once and now it’s a new young group coming through. And whether it’s youthful exuberance, thinking we can break it - but it’s great, and it’s awesome to be there in such a competitive shot put world at the moment.

‘‘Last year there was 22 guys who threw it 21 metres – previous years there may have been 15.

‘‘When you do well, it’s so much more rewarding.’’

And do well at the Games is something Walsh expects to do – record or not.

‘‘I’d be happy to win the gold, but if I threw 20.50 I’d be pissed off because I’m in way better shape than 20:50,’’ he said.

Walsh will contest qualifying tomorrow with the final on Monday.

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