Mixed emotions as Walsh wins again
The frustration was palpable as Kiwi Olympics gold medal hopeful Tom Walsh reflected on a second straight Diamond League athletics victory in Italy yesterday that failed to deliver the big distance he was chasing.
The Kiwi 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion is clearly revelling in the sudden-death nature of the new Diamond League format, going back-to-back in the men’s shot put with victory at the Golden Gala meet in Florence.
It followed his success in the opening Diamond League meet in Doha (21.63m) in remarkably similar circumstances.
As had been the case in Doha, Walsh did not throw furthest in the event, but won because he was clutch when it mattered under the experimental format for these Diamond League events.
The horizontal jumps and throws are staged under a ‘Final 3’ format which sees the three top athletes from the qualifying stages move on to a sudden-death final round to decide the top three placings.
Walsh again threw well – if not as far as he would have liked – when it mattered, saving his best for the day in Italy until his final round when he hurled the shot to 21.47 metres in the shootout to finish more than half a metre clear of Serbian Armin Sinancevic (20.93m).
Home thrower Leonardo Fabbri, who had topped the qualifiers with a best of 21.71m, had to settle for third with a modest 19.82m in the final.
Walsh was happy to collect another Diamond League victory, and the US$10,000 that went with it, though admitted to disappointment his distance was well shy of the territory he is hoping to hit in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics.
‘‘It’s good I can throw my furthest in round 6, especially in this format when it really matters. You play the game that’s in front of you, and I’m doing that well,’’ Walsh told Stuff from Florence.
‘‘But it’s definitely not up to my high standard of competing and throwing. I did make a step ahead in Nashville on Sunday [Monday, NZT] and there was no reason why I shouldn’t have thrown better today. I warmed up well. It’s just not where I want it and it’s not where I think it should be, so it’s very frustrating.’’
The 29-year-old Cantabrian was fresh off his first 22-metre throw since the 2019 world championships and had been hoping to back up with something similar in Florence.
He had a best effort of 21.43m in round 3 of qualification that snuck him into the shootout as third-placed finisher. Walsh was first to throw in the final, and put the heat on with that handy 21.47m toss which proved enough for a fourth successive Diamond League victory.
He told Stuff all the signs were he should be throwing further in competition – thus his frustration.
‘‘My training is back up to where we want it to be. It’s just taking me longer than what I thought it would to get back into this competition thing,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s not technical. It’s not physical, because my body is in the best shape it’s been for 18 months.
‘‘It’s just letting go and moving with the freedom that’s there when I do throw well. I’m not quite doing that at the moment. I’m doing well in warmups and in trainings but not doing it well in competition.
He returns to the US now to join coach Dale Stevenson and squadmates Dame Valerie Adams and Lauren Bruce for a training block in Georgia. They will all head back to Europe in July to put the final touches on the Tokyo buildup.
‘‘I know everything is there,’’ added Walsh. ‘‘It’s just what I pride myself on, doing it well all the time . . . that self-expectation is probably getting in the road of it.’’
As ever, Walsh was doing his best to look on the bright side. ‘‘I’ll take the cash and run, for sure, and won’t ask many questions.’’
‘‘It’s just not where I want it and it’s not where I think it should be, so it’s very frustrating.’’
Tom Walsh