Tom Walsh shrugged off the pressure of being an overwhelming favourite and duly won the men’s shot put gold medal tonight.
Walsh, 26, was an unbackable favourite to win the shot put – he is the current world indoor and outdoor champion and last month threw 22.67m. No-one has thrown further since 1990.
In qualifying in the Gold Coast event, Walsh rapped out a first-up effort of 22.45m and all sorts of predictions were being made.
In the end Walsh won with a relatively moderate 21.41m effort. Second was Nigerian Chukwuebuka Enekwecht with 21.14m. Jamaican O’Dayne Richards, who many thought would be Walsh’s closest challenger, was fourth with 20.80m.
Walsh led after every round. His sequence was 20.40m, 21.21m, X, 21.41m, X, X.
He is the first New Zealand man to win a Commonwealth Games shot put gold medal. The firsts for Walsh continue – indoor world champs, outdoor world champs.
As he said after his gold medal effort today: “There’s one left - the Olympics Games in two years’ time.”
Walsh emphasised he was happy with how things transpired today.
“I couldn't quite throw as well as I wanted to,” he said. “I was just a little bit pushy today, trying a little bit too hard. When I try hard it never works. I had two throws there that were a lot freer, but I couldn't stay in the circle and things like that.
“At the end of the day I came here to win gold and that's what I’ve done. I’m stoked to add another one to the tally.”
However, he did concede he felt he had some unfinished business that needed attending to.
“I’m in great shape to throw over that 23m line.”
He said he definitely had room for improvement. “I’ve got room to improve everywhere. For example, tonight I was just a little bit off on the mental side. When I can address that, let loose and let it move more freely, I’ll be fine. There’s a lot of room for improvement.’