Tom Walsh has claimed the bronze medal in the men's shot put final this afternoon at the Tokyo Olympics.
Walsh finished behind American rivals, Ryan Crouser in first, and second-placed Joe Kovacs in a repeat of the podium from the Rio Games five years ago.
Walsh and fellow Kiwi Jacko Gill were two of the 12 finalists in today's event but Gill finished ninth after coming up just two centimetres short of reaching the top eight.
Walsh started with a 21.09m effort in his first attempt but Crouser quickly made his presence known with a 22.83m throw in his first go soon after.
Crouser’s effort was good enough for a new Olympic record.
Walsh slowly started falling down the order as the first round went on with Kovacs recording a 22.19m effort and Brazilian Darlan Romani sitting third with a season-best 21.88m.
Gill finished the first round with a foul, meaning Walsh sat fourth with five attempts to go.
Walsh pushed past Romani with his second attempt though, adding another metre with a 22.17m throw – just two centimetres behind second-placed Kovacs.
Crouser put more distance between himself and the field soon after, breaking the Olympic record again with a 22.93m attempt while Gill got himself on the board with a 20.71m throw to sit eighth.
In the third round, Walsh scratched his effort after seeing the shot didn’t pass the 22m line.
The same could be said for Crouser although his third effort was still 22.86m.
Pressure quickly came on to Gill in the third round as only the top eight after round attempts advance to the final three attempts of the final.
Gill was sitting eighth at the start of round three but South Africa’s Kyle Blignaut soared into the mix with a 21.00m effort to jump into the fifth spot, knocking the young Kiwi down to ninth.
The 26-year-old came to the circle needing to beat 20.73m – the mark thrown by eighth-placed Egyptian Mostafa Amr Hassan – to move on to the final three rounds.
Unfortunately, with an effort of 20.71m Gill came up just two centimetres short.
That meant Walsh would be the only Kiwi contesting a medal going forward as he squared off with Kovacs and Crouser.
Walsh’s first attempt in the second half of the final was another sub-22m effort but fourth-placed Romani had fouled out his effort beforehand, meaning the Kiwi still sat third.
Kovacs put space between himself and Walsh though with an impressive 22.65m effort while Crouser posted another top throw to wrap up the round – 22.74m.
Romani fouled out again in the fifth round meaning Walsh came to the circle still sitting in third – a position he’d stay in after improving by one centimetre to 22.18m with his penultimate attempt.
Romani couldn’t pass Walsh’s mark in the final round, meaning the Kiwi was guaranteed a medal before his last attempt.
Walsh saved his best for last with a 22.47m throw but it wasn’t enough to catch Kovacs and Crouser.
Crouser sealed the final with his last attempt, throwing a whopping 23.30m to, once again, break the Olympic record.
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