New Zealand's Rio-bound shot-putter, Tom Walsh, finished second at his first Diamond League meeting of the season in China last night.
Shot putter Tom Walsh in action. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Walsh held the early lead in the Shanghai competition with a first round 20.79m throw but was surpassed by American World Champion Joe Kovacs in the second round.
He was bumped further down into third in the sixth and final round when fellow American Kurt Roberts unleashed a 21.40m throw to grab the lead.
But the New Zealander came back with a big toss of 21.20m on his final attempt, grabbing second place, while Kovacs could not respond.
The world-class field included Kovacs, who is the 2016 world outdoor leader with 21.47m, double Olympic gold medallist Tomas Majewski, and World Championship bronze medallist O'Dayne Richards of Jamaica.
Walsh sits in second place in the Diamond League Shot Put and will next compete in the Prefontaine Classic leg of the Diamond League in Oregon on May 27.
