Walsh sets new mark with first attempt
the Games, earning silver in the 40km points race. The 19-year-old had the day before claimed a surprise silver in the scratch race, and he backed it up with another superb performance in the points race, timing his sprints expertly to finish on 69 points, just 12 behind gold medallist Mark Stewart of Scotland.
Fellow Kiwis Regan Gough and Tom Sexton finished ninth and tenth respectively.
Andrew Alderson
on the Gold Coast Tom Walsh has set a Commonwealth Games record with his first competitive effort on the Gold Coast.
He heaved 22.45m in qualifying with his left forefinger and middle finger taped.
“Only a handful of people have thrown further than that [in history] so I feel good,” Walsh said.
The 26-year-old needed a minimum 19m throw, or to be in the top 12 to qualify.
Walsh held the record with his first qualifying throw at Glasgow. Gold medallist O’Dayne Richards took it off him in the final with a 21.61m heave.
Walsh’s teammate Eliza McCartney arrived yesterday to prepare for the pole vault. The 21-yearold shapes as a gold medal contender, but faces stern competition.
She cleared 4.75m on March 3 with fourth at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, and cleared the same height on March 25 in Auckland. A week prior, she slingshoted over an unratified 4.90m on a sloping runway at the Vertical Pursuit on Federal St.
However, Australian Nina Kennedy vaulted 4.71m on February 9, England’s Holly Bradshaw cleared 4.70m on March 31 and Canada’s Alysha Newman overcame 4.70m indoors on March 3.
McCartney’s fully fit and another advance on her personal best of 4.82m could be in prospect if the bungy cord at training is a gauge.
“We always put the bungy bar higher than what we use in competition,” McCartney said.
“We want to get used to those big heights. I’ve been happy with my technique and I’m jumping as well as I have in my life . . . which is good because, at 21, I should be on the up.
Coach Jeremy McColl said having three of his charges selected for a Games was one of the proudest moments of his career. Olivia McTaggart and Nick Southgate are also competing.
McCartney was later lathered in praise by the three head honchos she joined at an international press conference to discuss the Games’ track and field programme.
Her top table colleagues were IAAF president Sebastian Coe, Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation chairman Peter Beattie.
“She’s young, she’s engaging, she’s talented and comes from a nation which really does have athletics at its heart,” Coe said, before describing New Zealand track and field as being in a “renaissance”.
Time for Grevemberg to pick up the baton: “If I can, I would also like to claim some stake with Eliza also being a great Commonwealth athlete and a great poster athlete for us.”
Beattie took the final leg of the relay: “Everybody loves you,” he said.