Gill wins first national shot put title; ends Walsh’s streak at 13
Jacko Gill has dethroned Tom Walsh as New Zealand’s national men’s shot put champion after a 13-year reign.
Facing off for the first time this summer at the national track and field championships in Wellington yesterday, Gill threw 21.8m, while Walsh could only muster 21.25m as his best effort.
Gill, 28, went further than 21.25m with four of his other five throws and became the first man other than Walsh, 31, to claim the national title since 2009, when Patrick Hellier won the last of his four titles.
Walsh won the national youth title that year, an honour Gill made his own the following year, but since then it has been all Walsh when it comes to success on New Zealand athletics biggest stage.
Gill began with a 21.27m effort at Newtown Park and steadily increased from there, throwing 21.44m and 21.75m before hitting 21.8m with his fourth attempt.
Walsh began with 21.2m and improved to 21.25m with his second attempt, but failed to improve with any of his four attempts from there.
Needing to put pressure on Gill with his sixth and final effort, Walsh only threw 21.1m and after Gill completed his final throw, he was able to begin some long overdue celebrations.
The Kiwi rivals finished first and second at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in England, with Walsh throwing 22.26m and Gill throwing 21.9m.
That mark was a new personal best for Gill and a sign he was at the top of his game, four years after he was ruled out of the previous Games on the Gold Coast with an inflamed heart.
Now that Gill has usurped Walsh to claim his first national title, there will only be more interest in seeing them face off going forward.
■ Eliza McCartney said she was grateful just to be competing at all, after winning her first national pole vault title in six years with a massive season’s best.
Achilles and hamstring injuries have plagued the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist since her last triumph in 2017, but she cleared 4.61m and beat last year’s champion, Oliva McTaggart, on countback in Wellington.
McCartney, 26, was competing against McTaggart and last year’s Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Imogen Ayris, who all cleared 4.46m, then lifted the bar another 15cm.
Ayris could not clear 4.61m in three attempts, but McCartney cleared 4.61m with her second effort and McTaggart was successful with her third, raising the bar to 4.71m – the automatic qualifying height for the world championships in August.
Neither were successful in three leaps at 4.71m and McCartney was declared the winner — having cleared 4.61m in fewer attempts.