Walsh ready to build on medal collection
Finding a gap on Tom Walsh’s mantelpiece might require the services of a Tetris wizard these days.
The 26-year-old shot putter has claimed almost every title in the sport, and became the first New Zealand male to secure a medal in an Olympic field event with his bronze at Rio.
However, better never stops. On April 9, he will attempt to upgrade a 2014 Glasgow silver to a 2018 Gold Coast gold at the Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand has produced three women’s shot put champions: Yvette Corlett (nee Williams), Valerie Young (nee Sloper) and Dame Valerie Adams. Among the men, Les Mills in 1966, Courtney Ireland in 1994 and Walsh have been runners-up.
A new chapter in New Zealand athletics history could soon be written at Carrara Stadium, given how far Walsh remains clear of his Commonwealth competitors this outdoor season.
Canadian Tim Nedow has recorded 20.77m, Australian Damien Birkinhead 20.75m and Glasgow champion, Jamaican O’Dayne Richards, 20.61m.
Don’t expect the TAB to see too many wagers on them when the Kiwi bear performs his ballet in the throwing circle.
Last weekend, Walsh heaved a new personal best of 22.67m, 36cm better than his last record set defending his world indoor title on March 3 in Birmingham.
He is now history’s sixth-equal farthest shot putter, level with American Kevin Toth, who produced his best in 2003. The following year, Toth was banned for a positive drugs test.
No one has gone further than Walsh since May 1990, when American Randy Barnes exceeded 23m twice in a week. Barnes tested positive for steroid use in August that year. Recidivism saw him banned for life in 1998.
The other four completed their puts between 1975 and 1988.
A lot rides on Walsh’s reputation for unimpeachable integrity since storming to his first major precedent; bronze at the 2014 world indoors in Poland.
Interviewed afterwards, he said: “If you told me I’d be in this position at the start of the year, I’d have said you were bat-shit crazy.
“Fingers crossed this is what I’ll be doing every New Zealand winter for the next 10-15 years.”
So it has proved. He has become a dominant figure in the discipline.
That makes him a sound bet for flagbearer when the announcement is made on Tuesday.
Walsh’s rise to prominence has been about more than throwing a stone.
New Zealand sports fans appreciate the way his skills are matched by chutzpah and home-spun decency. His personality transcends the sport.
“Tom can be making a joke before he throws, then he turns into a different person.”
We are not talking Muhammad Ali just yet, but there were whispers his home town of Timaru might become “Tomaru” to celebrate his return from Rio. He loves a beer and a pie; he sports a cheeky grin; and he wears his Mum’s
Ross clan tartan to the annual Halberg Awards. Walsh brings a quirkiness that would be difficult to manufacture.
“Tom’s one of those guys who can be making a joke a minute before he throws, then he turns into a whole different person who is zoned in,” said Ryan Crouser, the Rio Olympic champion who Walsh has previously enticed down to New Zealand, along with fellow American Ryan Whiting and Birkinhead. Convincing such a stellar shot putting cast to visit also reflects Walsh’s industry clout. Walsh’s nature builds trust with rivals, but when he needs to morph gregariousness into a game face, his focus is as steely as the 7.26kg ball he heaves for a living.
A seminal moment at the end
of 2015 helped. Walsh had beaten every major competitor at some point in the season and won his maiden Diamond League meet in Brussels.
“I feel like I belong,” he said at the time. “I know how I got there and how it felt. It’s a lot easier once you’ve done it, and thrown consistently over 21m in the process. I don’t want to be a blip in the ocean.
“Two years ago, I thought ‘these guys are gods’. Last year, it was ‘how the hell am I here?’ This year, they’re starting to respect me and believe I’m a threat. I’ve definitely made some mates, but I hate losing to them.”
He was crowned the overall Diamond League champion in 2016 and, despite his rise to shot put stardom, further endeared himself to Kiwis by refusing to relinquish his tool belt with Mike Greer Homes in Christchurch.
Walsh enters the Games as New Zealand’s affable talisman. His performance will resonate across the team’s campaign.