2025 World Indoor shot put gold medalist New Zealand’s Tom Walsh. Photo: AFP
New Zealand shot-putter Tom Walsh has won his third World Indoor title.
It is a dramatic turn around for the Cantabrian who had his Olympic campaign last year ruined by an injury.
His victory in Nanjing, China follows wins in Portland in 2016 and Birmingham in 2018.
It is his sixth medal in total and you have to go back to 2012 for a time when the 31-year-old did not feature at all on the podium at the World Indoors despite this being his first indoor outing of the season.
Walsh threw a season best 21.65 metres to finish just ahead of American's Roger Steen and Adrian Piperi.
Walsh has also won a World Championship (outdoor) gold and bronze medal and two Olympic bronze medals.
Walsh's first-round throw sent him to the lead, where he stayed for the rest of the competition. His 21.65 mark proved to be a throw too far for the rest of the competition, as Walsh remained
unchallenged to his final throw.
Walsh's five throws over 21m saw him throw the best series on the field, with pre-event favourite, Olympic medallist Leonardo Fabri of Italy finishing in fourth with a best throw of 21.35.
Walsh entered the competition ranked 8th on his season best.
He pockets $70,000 for the win.
Walsh will now set his sights on competitions in both the USA and in Europe as he builds towards the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.
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