Tomas Walsh (born 1 March 1992)
is a New Zealand
athlete who competes mainly in the
shot put.
[Tomas Walsh]
IAAF. Retrieved on 9 March 2014. He is the current
national record holder both outdoors and indoors for the event.
[Tom Walsh claims brilliant bronze for NZ]
Stuff.co.nz (8 March 2014). Retrieved on 9 March 2014. His personal best of , set in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...
, 5 October 2019, is also the
Oceanian record and makes him the sixth best shot putter in history.
Walsh was the bronze medallist at the
2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland.
Prepa ...
, the silver medallist at the
2014 Commonwealth Games, 4th at the
2015 World Championships in Athletics
The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...
, winner of the
2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States.
The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...
, the bronze medallist at the
2016 Summer Olympics, the gold medallist at the
2017 World Championships and the bronze medallist at the
2019 World Championships,
2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships
The 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 18 to 20 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Ethiopia headed the medal table, with 4 gold medals, despite winning only nine in total. United States, second on gold medals won with 3, won ...
and the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
, and gold medallist at the
2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...
.
Athletics career
Walsh made his international debut at the
2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he placed sixth in his shot put speciality and also competed in the qualifying of the
discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...
. On 12 December 2009 Walsh recorded a put of the 5 kg shot to win the Senior Boys title at the New Zealand National Secondary School Track and Field Championships. This performance was a New Zealand Youth (Under 18) record which was broken the following day by
Jacko Gill when winning the Junior Boys (Under 16) title.
Walsh broke the New Zealand junior record on 18 March 2010 with a put of with the 6 kg shot but this was broken 9 days later by Gill with . At the
2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics Walsh failed to qualify for the final of the shot put which was won by Gill.
[Tomas Walsh]
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
In 2012 Walsh won his first senior national shot put title which he retained the following season and also added the discus title. On 12 December 2013 Walsh broke Gill's
New Zealand senior shot put record with in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia which he improved with on 22 March 2014, also in Melbourne.
At the
2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland.
Prepa ...
, in his first senior international competition and first ever competition indoors, Walsh finished third in the
men's shot put.
He set an indoor national record of in the qualifying round and improved upon this mark three times in the final finishing with which was an
Oceanian indoor record and the same distance as the Oceanian outdoor record.
[
Later in 2014, Walsh improved his outdoor personal best and the New Zealand record with at the ]2014 IAAF Diamond League
The 2014 IAAF Diamond League was the fifth edition of the annual Diamond League. It consisted of fourteen one-day track and field meetings, starting on May 9, 2014 in Doha, Qatar and ending on September 5, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. Other events w ...
meet in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on 11 July, before improving again to on 27 July, during the qualifying round at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which was a Commonwealth Games record. In the final, Walsh won the silver medal behind O'Dayne Richards
O'Dayne Valentin Richards (born 14 December 1988 in St. Andrew) is a Jamaican athlete competing in the shot put and discus throw. He studied at the University of Technology, Jamaica
The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.), forme ...
.
In 2015, Walsh defended his New Zealand shot put title with a throw of on 8 March, before setting a new Oceanian record of on 21 March at the Melbourne Track Classic
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...
.
Walsh finished fourth at the 2015 World Championships on 23 August in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, throwing a new personal best of 21.58m. He was just 11 cm off the bronze medal. He improved his personal best to 21.62m on 8 September in winning the shot put at the Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
. On 11 September Walsh won his first Diamond League meet with a throw of 21.39m in Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
In the 2016 World Indoor Championships, Walsh won the gold medal with a throw of 21.78m, breaking his own New Zealand national and Oceania area indoor records three times in the process. He went on to take the bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, with 21.36m, and the following year won the 2017 IAAF World Championships
Seventeen or 17 may refer to:
*17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18
* one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017
Literature
Magazines
* ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine
* ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...
with 22.03m.
Walsh retained his World Indoor title at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, with a then personal best of 22.31m. He surpassed this with 22.67m on 25 March the same year, at the Sir Graeme Douglas International Track Challenge in West Auckland, New Zealand, moving him into the top-10 World All-Time.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Walsh threw 22.45m, setting a new Commonwealth Games record en route to qualify for the Shot Put Men's final.
In 2019, Walsh threw 22.90m in the first round of the 2019 World Athletics Championships
The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...
to set a new Oceanian record. He finished in third place.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
in Tokyo, Walsh took third place once again, with a throw of 22.47m. At the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships
The 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 18 to 20 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Ethiopia headed the medal table, with 4 gold medals, despite winning only nine in total. United States, second on gold medals won with 3, won ...
, Walsh equalled his own indoor Oceanian record.
Personal life
Walsh works part-time as a builder in Timaru
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
.
Tom's father, Peter, won the New Zealand junior men's shot put in the 1964–65 season and was a member of the 1974 South Canterbury Rugby side that won the Ranfurly Shield
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...
.
Statistics
Personal bests
;Outdoor
* Shot put – Doha (2019)
*Discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...
– (2014)
;Indoor
*Shot put – (2018, 2022)
Shot put season's best
Senior implement weight (7.26 kg) only.
Competition record
;
National titles
*Shot put: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
*Discus throw: 2013
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Tom
1992 births
Living people
New Zealand male shot putters
Olympic male shot putters
Olympic athletes of New Zealand
Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for New Zealand
World Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Championships winners
World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
Diamond League winners
Australian Athletics Championships winners
People educated at Timaru Boys' High School
Sportspeople from Timaru
20th-century New Zealand people
21st-century New Zealand people