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, 5 October 2019, is also the Oceanian record and makes him the seventh best shot putter in history.
Walsh was the bronze medallist at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, the silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, 4th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, winner of the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 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 and the 2020 Summer Olympics, and gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Athletics career Walsh made his international debut at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he placed sixth in the shot put and also competed in the qualifying of the discus throw.World Youth Championships 2009 . World Junior Athletic History. Retrieved on 9 March 2014. On 12 December 2009 Walsh threw with 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.Jacko Gill. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.World Junior Championships 2010 . WJAH. 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, AustraliaJohnson, Len (12 December 2013). Shot putter Walsh shares spotlight with distance runners at Zatopek:10. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 March 2014. which he improved with on 22 March 2014, also in Melbourne.(2014-03-23). . The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 23 March 2014.
At the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, in his first senior international competition and first ever competition indoors,Lewis, Paul (9 March 2014). Athletics: Bronze is pure gold. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 9 March 2014. 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.Minshull, Phil (8 March 2014). Report: men's shot put final – Sopot 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.
Later in 2014, Walsh improved his outdoor personal best and the New Zealand record with at the 2014 IAAF Diamond League meet in Glasgow 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.
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.NZ athletes on record spree in Melbourne. Retrieved on 22 March 2015.
Walsh finished fourth at the 2015 World Championships on 23 August in Beijing, 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. On 11 September Walsh won his first Diamond League meet with a throw of 21.39m in Brussels.
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 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 to set a new Oceanian record. He finished in third place.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Walsh took third place once again, with a throw of 22.47m. At the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, Walsh equalled his own indoor Oceanian record.
Personal life Walsh works part-time as a builder in Timaru.
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.
Statistics Personal bests Outdoor Shot put – Doha (2019) Discus throw – (2014)
Indoor Shot put – (2018, 2022)
Shot put season's best Senior implement weight (7.26 kg) only. Year Performance Competition Location Date Worldranking 2010 17.57 m Waitakere, New Zealand 20 February 2011 18.83 m North Shore, New Zealand 5 December 123 2012 19.33 m Amiens, France 30 June 111= 2013 20.61 m Melbourne, Australia 12 December 22= 2014 21.26 m () World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 7 March 11 21.24 m Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland 27 July 2015 21.62 m Hanžeković Memorial Zagreb, Croatia 7 September 5 2016 22.21 m Hanžeković Memorial Zagreb, Croatia 5 September 2 2017 22.14 m World Championships London, England 5 August 2018 22.31 m 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 3 March 2018 22.67 m Sir Graeme Douglas International Track Challenge West Auckland, New Zealand 25 March201922.90 m2019 World Athletics ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar5 October =2202021.70 mNew Zealand National ChampsChristchurch, New Zealand6 March
Competition record 2009World Youth ChampionshipsBrixen, Italy6thShot put (5 kg)19.60 m31st (q)Discus throw (1.5 kg)48.83 m2010World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada16th (q)Shot put (6 kg)17.92 m2014World Indoor ChampionshipsSopot, Poland3rdShot put21.26 mCommonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom2ndShot put21.19 m2015World Championships Beijing, China4thShot put21.58 m2016World Indoor ChampionshipsPortland, United States1stShot put21.78 mOlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil3rdShot put21.36 m2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom1stShot put22.03 m2018World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom1stShot put22.31 m2018Commonwealth GamesGold Coast, Australia1stShot put21.41 m2019World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar3rdShot put22.90 m2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan3rdShot put22.47 m2022World Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia3rdShot put22.31 mWorld ChampionshipsEugene, United States4thShot put22.08 mCommonwealth GamesBirmingham, United Kingdom1stShot put22.26m2023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary4thShot put22.05 m2024World Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom2ndShot put22.07 mOlympic GamesParis, France5th (q)Shot put21.48 m2025World Indoor ChampionshipsNanjing, China1stShot put21.65 mWorld ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan4thShot put21.94 m2026World Indoor ChampionshipsTorun, Poland1stShot put21.82 mCommonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom2ndShot put21.03 m
Notes
References
External links
Tom Walsh at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link)