‘My motivation has wavered’: Champ opens up on struggles
Tom Walsh tells Marc Hinton it’s tough to stay focused when there has to be doubts about whether the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead next year.
When Tom Walsh competes at the highest level of his sport, he dare not offer even a hint of weakness or doubt. In shot put, when you set foot in that concrete circle it’s all about mind over matter, with a clear head as important as a strong arm.
Yet here’s Walsh now, taking a deep breath and a moment’s pause, admitting that he’s done it tough in 2020 dealing with the unprecedented disruption to the sporting calendar, and massive doubt he’s sure hangs over the postponed Olympics. It takes a big man to open up on mental struggles — Walsh definitely qualifies as the former, and he’s comfortable enough in his own skin to speak out on the latter.
Anyone who’s had anything to do with the Kiwi colossus is aware he’s one of those glass half-full types, understanding he’s lucky to chuck a metal sphere around for a living, and even more privileged to be one of the best in the world. Accordingly, a simmering sense of humour and healthy perspective tend to be a permanent part of his make-up.
But even Walsh, the three-time world champion (once outdoors, twice indoors) and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, has his limits in the age of global pandemics, international travel restrictions, and shattered sporting dreams. Even he’s finding it tough to put a positive spin on the most challenging period international sport may ever have faced.
The 28-year-old Timaru-raised, Christchurchdomiciled athlete has decided to abandon any hope of competing internationally in 2020 and now concedes there has to be serious doubts about the prospect of the postponed Olympics even going ahead next year, as scheduled.
Walsh, a founding board member of new athletes’ rights group The Athletics Association, revealed his difficult moments dealing with essentially his first full winter in New Zealand in the best part of a decade. Normally around now, he would be jetting around American and European hotspots, accumulating Diamond League points like they were going out of fashion.
Instead he’s battling the vagaries of the Kiwi winter, with nary a high-end international competition in sight.
‘‘It has been tough. I’d be lying if I said that at certain points in time motivation hasn’t been wavering,’’ Walsh tells the Sunday Star-Times. ‘‘This has made me even more aware I do the sport to compete on the world stage against the best in the world. To have that taken away, it has been a tough time in patches and motivation has wavered a little.
‘‘I really struggled when we came out of lockdown and we were good to go here, but the rest of the world was on struggle street. That’s when it hit home there was a very strong chance the rest of the world mightn’t open up. So it has been tough at times.’’
Australia’s Covid relapse hasn’t helped. Like many sports, Athletics New Zealand were pinning big hopes on a trans-Tasman bubble opening up semi-international competition, and warm weather training, in the important
Olympic qualifying and buildup period. Walsh, like so many of his fellow elite Kiwi athletes, is planning as though the Games will go ahead, but in the back of his mind sits a nagging doubt.
‘‘There definitely are question marks. What’s weighing in our favour is the fact it’s in Japan, they are an organised bunch of people, and they’ve had a whole year to figure out contingency plans.
‘‘But it may not have any spectators which would be a huge shame. I think it is better for everyone if it does go ahead, but obviously in the right circumstances and not spreading Covid-19.’’
Even clouded by uncertainty, Walsh says the Olympics remain an important guiding light for all athletes working through such difficult times. These people train long and hard to find extraordinary peaks for one-off events that, in Walsh’s case, hinge on just a few seconds of technical and physical excellence.
‘‘It’s something to work towards . . . a huge reason why we’re all still training hard,’’ says the 2018 Halberg Supreme award winner of that Olympic lure.
‘‘It is so long away and there’s a lot that can still happen, but it is the major reason we’re still going flat-tack in the gym and in
training.’’
Athletics NZ high performance boss Scott Goodman says the sport is conscious of the mental challenges faced by Walsh and his peers. All have access to sports’ psychologists and athlete welfare experts, and the national body has also scheduled a series of training camps to gather New Zealandbased competitors. The first was a recently completed six-week mid-winter block at Hawke’s Bay’s excellent facility in Hastings.
‘‘It was even more successful than we could have hoped for, especially around things like morale,’’ noted Goodman. ‘‘We don’t have a centralised programme, like rowing or cycling, so bringing our athletes and coaches into a community atmosphere was really helpful.
‘‘In my experiences being around people with similar challenges, you’re able to chat, compare notes and figure out ‘we’re all in this together’. I do think being able to talk to their peers regularly is probably as effective as anything.’’
Walsh has officially abandoned any hope of competing internationally in 2020. There are meets still scheduled, but the big Kiwi sees no point in making elaborate plans in such a difficult time to travel.
‘‘As of now there’s nothing. I had a choice to go overseas and definitely entertained the thought. But the risk is just too great.
‘‘We could go and there might be no-one at the competition, and there’s no point in going all that way and competing against no-one.
‘‘I have pulled the pin on even looking into that. We are setting up some comps in mid-September in Napier, mainly based around throws, and there will be other events. That’s at least something to work towards.’’
In the meantime the burly Cantab says he has regained his focus and is producing the sort of numbers in the gym that have him hopeful of getting back out round that personal best of 22.90 metres he set in finishing an agonising third at the historic world championships final in Doha last year (the equal seventh best throw of all time).
‘‘I’ve just set some pretty good numbers in the gym, squatted a PB the other day which is really good, and my bench and other exercises are right up where I need to be. I’ve made some good progress in the gym again, and we’ve identified a few things with throwing we need to address. ‘‘I’m feeling pretty happy, for sure.’’
Walsh said he did not have to think twice when asked to join the inaugural Athletics Association board. ‘‘There’s a lot of talk goes on around the dining rooms and so forth,’’ he said.
‘‘You get to know the people who are just doing this because they like competing, then you get the other people who want to make the sport better than when they arrived. I believe I’m one of those latter people.
‘‘It’s easy to moan when things aren’t going right, but when an opportunity like this comes up and you aren’t taking action, then you don’t deserve to complain any more.’’
Walsh said the sport needed an independent athletes’ voice and a seat at the table of the decision-making process. ‘‘We’re there to make sure the good keeps happening and the stuff that can be improved is improved.’’ Right now, there may not be a more important time for that voice to be heard.
‘‘I really struggled when we came out of lockdown and we were good to go here, but the rest of the world was on struggle street. That’s when it hit home there was a very strong chance the rest of the world mightn’t open up.’’ Tom Walsh