{"id":552310,"date":"2026-07-31T02:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/552310\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T02:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:46:11","slug":"tom-walsh-settles-for-commonwealth-games-silver-as-three-peat-bid-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/552310\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Walsh settles for Commonwealth Games silver as three-peat bid falls short"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Walsh admits he let the occasion get the better of him as his bid for a historic third straight Commonwealth Games shot put title ended in silver on Friday – a disappointment the veteran says has only sharpened his focus on the Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n

Follow updates on RNZ’s blog<\/a><\/p>\n

The veteran shotputter had to settle for silver in Glasgow after Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi snatched gold with a fifth-round throw of 21.07m.<\/p>\n

“I’m not here to get second. Between me and my team, we want to achieve some things in the next two years and today wasn’t up to that standard,” Walsh said.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old admitted he had let the occasion get the better of him despite arriving in outstanding physical shape.<\/p>\n

“Physically, I’m in great shape. Just mentally I didn’t quite put it together today. I let the occasion get the better of me, which is very disappointing, but it also gives us some room to improve.”<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Walsh.<\/p>\n

Simon Stacpoole \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n

Despite the frustration, Walsh said the result had not shaken his confidence and was already looking towards the Diamond League finals before building to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n

“LA is my goal at the moment, and we’ll see what comes after that. If I’m still loving it and still enjoying it, I’ll keep going if I can make it work.”<\/p>\n

Asked whether that could include a fifth Commonwealth Games appearance, Walsh joked “I mightn’t have a marriage if I do a fifth”.<\/p>\n

The two-time Commonwealth champion looked on track to make history after opening with 21.03m, to lead through the first three rounds.<\/p>\n

But after fouling in the third and fourth rounds, Enekwechi edged ahead in the fifth. Walsh’s response landed outside the sector – taking out a television microphone – before his final throw failed to reclaim the lead.<\/p>\n

While silver was a bitter pill to swallow, Walsh said experience had helped him appreciate the achievement.<\/p>\n

“One thing with age is I understand how rare these things can be, so having the weight of a medal around my neck is a pretty cool feeling.<\/p>\n

“With age and having a young family it does bring perspective … obviously I’m disappointed with how I threw and not getting the job done, but I don’t think I’m going to be as hard on myself as I was earlier in my career.”<\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/p>\n

Anna Grimaldi (NZL) wins bronze in the Para 100m T47 Final on Day 7 of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland on Thursday 30 July 2026. (Photo: Simon Stacpoole \/ www.photosport.nz)<\/p>\n

Simon Stacpoole \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n

Earlier, three-time Paralympic champion Anna Grimaldi marked her Commonwealth Games debut with bronze in the women’s T47 100m.<\/p>\n

Despite having competed at international level for more than a decade, Glasgow is the first time Grimaldi has competed in a Commonwealth Games as part of an integrated New Zealand Team.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old said it was remarkable to still be experiencing new milestones after 13 years in the sport.<\/p>\n

“This is my 10th time representing New Zealand in the black singlet… it’s kind of crazy that far in to be having these new opportunities.”<\/p>\n

Despite being disappointed with how she ran, Grimaldi said competing at her first Commonwealth Games had been “really special”, describing the chance to race “in a new team, in a new environment, in a new country, at a new event” as one she had long anticipated.<\/p>\n

Her bronze gave New Zealand its second athletics medal of the evening after Zoe Hobbs’ 100m gold earlier in the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Walsh admits he let the occasion get the better of him as his bid for a historic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-552310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}