Tom Walsh wins Diamond League shot put event, boosting Olympic medal hopes

Tom Walsh's Olympic medal hopes have been given a major boost after the Kiwi shot-putter won the Doha Diamond League event overnight.

Walsh threw 21.63 on his final throw to secure a convincing 74cm victory. His throw was a centimetre longer than his throw two weeks ago that earned him a fourth place finish in Arizona.

However, Walsh benefited from the event format in Doha, which saw him win a throw-off between the top three putters, including Serbia's Armin Sinancevic, who had earlier posted the longest throw of the day at 21.88m.

The Serb fouled out in the throw-off and finished in third place.

Walsh won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a throw of 21.36m, while his career best of 22.90m came at Doha in 2019.