The making of a world champion
World champion shot putter Tom Walsh has a lot to thank his parents for. It was not just Peter and Karen Walsh’s genes, or the shot put circle they installed at their home, which moulded the burly South Cantabrian into the world’s best it’s the values they instilled in him.
That’s what Paul Coughlan, Walsh’s former manager, told Stuff a couple of days after the former Timaru Boys’ High School pupil won gold at the world championships in London.
‘‘It’s very clear where he gets his values and level-headedness from,’’ Coughlan said.
‘‘They’re very down-to-earth people, very successful in their own right in business themselves, but there is not an ounce of pretension about them.
‘‘They’re just very decent, down to earth people. And that’s what I got from Tom as well. They’ve instilled those values in him and no matter how big you are and how famous you are, you put your pants on one leg at a time - the same as everyone else - and you can see that coming through.’’
Coughlan went on to say his parents deserved a ‘‘huge amount of credit’’ for their son’s rise to the top this week when he won gold at the world championships.
The 25-year-old world indoor champion added the outdoor title to his name after outgunning American rivals, and favourites, defending champion Joe Kovacs and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser.
It’s the latest success story for Walsh, who last year won bronze at the Rio Olympics, and won the Diamond League title.
‘‘Not at all,’’ Coughlan, who managed Walsh for four years and finished up after last year’s Olympics, said when asked if he was surprised Walsh won the world title.
‘‘He always had very clear goals, and even when he was a long way away from that, he knew he had a long-term goal in mind and he had the capability to get there.
‘‘You look at every year he’s competed over the last few years, he’s improved every year, he’s done something new, something different every year in terms of achievement and this year is another step up again. So roll on Tokyo [2020 Olympics],’’ Coughlan said.
Walsh notched his personalbest with the 7.26kg implement last year, when he unleashed a 22.21m bomb in Croatia. Back up to 2010, when he first started using the men’s shot, and his best was 17.57m.
It wasn’t until 2013 before the eight-times national champion started regularly clearing 20m, while he went beyond 22m for the first time last year.
Karen Walsh described her son as ‘‘pig-headed, like his father’’ when discussing her son’s mental drive to achieve something he’s wanted to do since giving up cricket and rugby, sports he and represented South Canterbury in.
‘‘I’ll apply it to all three of them [Karen, Peter and Tom] and say they’re very driven,’’ Coughlan said.
‘‘It’s a real single-minded focus to not lose sight of the ultimate goal ... if you don’t develop those qualities from a very early age, you won’t develop them later.’’
Walsh’s first coach and longtime mentor, Ian Baird, watched Walsh reign supreme in London, and also deserves credit for helping Walsh get to where he is.
As does current coach Dale Stevenson, a Christchurch-based Australian who spends countless hours ensuring Walsh is ready to fire when it counts most.
But endless hours of training and good genes isn’t always enough to get to the top.
Walsh, a qualified Christchurch-based builder, spends his Kiwi summers on the end of a hammer, something Coughlan believes has also helped him succeed.
‘‘He likes to stay on and do his building work because it keeps him grounded,’’ Coughlan said. ‘‘He wants to work as well as compete in his sport because it gives him some balance.’’
Coughlan, who still deals with Walsh as the International Track Meet and Big Shot director, was reminded earlier this year, when setting up for the Big Shot event in Christchurch, why he’s a ‘‘genuinely good guy’’.
‘‘When we laid the concrete circle for the Big Shot event in Victoria Square, he was there scraping out the gravel and levelling it off and laying it.
‘‘That would be like having a working-bee to put up posts at AMI Stadium and [All Blacks lock] Sam Whitelock being there putting the posts up,’’ Coughlan said.
‘‘Like [Kiwi middle-distance runner] Nick Willis, he is very focussed on making sure whatever he does, wherever he goes and however famous he gets, he always wants to be involved in those events.’’