Jackson Gill (born 20 December 1994) is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the shot put. Gill throws with his right hand, using the spin technique. In 2010, he won gold in the shot put at the World Junior Championships at the age of , which made him the youngest ever male gold medalist at the World Junior Championships (surpassing Usain Bolt who was old when he won the 200 metres in 2002). In 2012, he defended his title at the 2012 World Junior Championships.
Career
Gill first came to prominence in late 2009 when he set world age-14 bests with the 5 kg Shot (20.42m) and 6 kg Shot (17.41m). At the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, as a 15-year-old, Gill won the gold in the shot put (6 kg) with a distance of 20.76m, beating 18- and 19-year-olds and becoming the youngest-ever male junior champion.
In 2010, prior to the World Junior Championships, Gill threw the 5 kg shot 22.53m at an event in Stockholm, Sweden, exceeding the best-known performances with that weight for 15- and 16-year-olds. He improved to 22.60m in finishing second at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games despite being unwell. On 11 December 2010, at the New Zealand National Secondary Schools Championships, Gill set a youth (under-18) world-best performance of 23.86m (5 kg).IAAF Youth All-time Shot Put list
On 26 March 2011, at the New Zealand National Championships, Gill achieved 21.34m with the 6 kg shot, at the time ranking him 4th on the all-time IAAF junior list for shot put.IAAF Junior All-time Shot Put list
On 23 April 2011, at 16 years of age, Gill threw 20.01m with the senior shot (7.26 kg). Gill's throw broke the 44-year-old New Zealand national record set by Les Mills in 1967. This performance surpassed the standard for the 2011 Athletics World Championships, however the rules for that competition exclude anyone of Jacko's age competing in any throwing events. An appeal to the IAAF for an exception to be made to this regulation to allow Gill to compete was rejected. The performance also surpassed the B standard for the 2012 OlympicsIAAF: QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXX OLYMPIAD however not only was it outside the qualifying period (which started on 1 May) it was also less than the qualification standard (20.30m) subsequently set by Athletics New Zealand. On 5 December 2011 he qualified for the 2012 Olympics by throwing 20.38m. On the same occasion he threw 22.31 with the 6 kg shot to become the second furthest junior (under-20) thrower ever with that weight. Gill has been reported as the youngest and one of the lightest athletes to throw over 20m.
On 7 July 2011 at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Lille Métropole, France, Gill won the gold medal by 4m with a World Youth Best Performance of 24.35m,IAAF World Youth Championships: Boys Shot Put Final – Gill beyond 24m, three times! which he subsequently improved later that year with a throw of 24.45m in Auckland on 12 December.
On 20 July 2013 Gill broke the Oceania Junior Record with 22.32m at Brisbane, Australia.IAAF Outdoor Junior list 2013: Shot put He surpassed this with 22.54m at the North Shore, Auckland on 4 August.Athletics New Zealand: Cross Country Champs, Jacko Extends 6kg Shot Record & Weekly Roundup On 18 August, also at the North Shore in Auckland, he threw 23.00 to break the World Junior Record.IAAF: World Record RatifiedStuff.co.nz Gill breaks world junior shot put record
On 25 June 2014 in Rarotonga, Gill improved his personal best to 20.70m in winning the shot put title at the 2014 Oceania Area Championships in Athletics.
Personal life
Gill's father, Walter, is a former discus thrower and national shot-put champion, and his mother, Nerida, is a former discus thrower. He attended Takapuna Grammar School until 2010. Jacko was the subject of a "feature" interview for the IAAF's March 2013 monthly on-line newsletter, in which he said he had a keen interest in the shot from an early age: "Since about 10 years old I've decided to write all of my lifting programs and schedules for my training. I didn't really fit in well at gyms, so I decided to do all weights in our garage at home. I enjoy weight-lifting, power-lifting mainly, so will lift for around four hours a day, and throw only a couple of times per week. " He also said that his athletic "hero" is Ricky Bruch, a former Discus World record-holder from Sweden.
Coaching
Gill was coached by Didier Poppé during the years of his World Youth and World Junior Championships campaigns. In late 2012 he began training under the direction of former New Zealand shot champion Courtney Ireland and was later coached by Kirsten Hellier.
Achievements Representing 2010Oceania Youth ChampionshipsSydney, Australia1stShot put (5 kg)20.62 m1stDiscus throw (1.5 kg)56.64 mWorld Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada1stShot put (6 kg)20.76 mYouth Olympic GamesSingapore2ndShot put (5 kg)22.60 m2011World Youth ChampionshipsLille, France1stShot put (5 kg)24.35 m2012World Junior ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain1stShot put (6 kg)22.20 m2014Oceania ChampionshipsAvarua, Cook Islands1stShot put20.70 mCommonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom11thShot put18.05 m2015World Championships Beijing, China8thShot put20.11 m2016World Indoor ChampionshipsPortland, United States9thShot put19.93 m2016Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil9thShot put20.50 m2017World Championships London, United Kingdom9thShot put20.82 m2019Oceania ChampionshipsTownsville, Australia1stShot put20.75 mWorld ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar7thShot put21.45 m2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan9thShot put20.71 m2022World ChampionshipsEugene, United States7thShot put21.40 mCommonwealth GamesBirmingham, United Kingdom2ndShot put21.90 m2023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary6thShot put21.76 m2024World Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom5thShot put21.69 mOlympic GamesParis, France7thShot put21.15 m
References
External links
Jacko Gill at Athletics New Zealand
Jacko Gill at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived)