Timaru shot-putter Tom Walsh is back to his winning ways on the Diamond League circuit.
The world indoor and outdoor champion has thrown a meet-record 22.29m at Oslo.
Walsh beat American rival Ryan Crouser by just eight centimetres with the third-longest throw of his career. In March, Walsh reached 22.67m in Auckland and then 22.45m in Gold Coast Commonwealth Games qualifying.
Walsh led into the fifth round, but Crouser produced his best to take the lead. The Kiwi responded with his winner with his sixth and final throw - the final attempt of the competition.
"It was a bit of a frustrating comp," he told Newshub. "I was throwing pretty well distance-wise, but just didn't feel like I was getting behind them.
"But I was pretty happy with the last-round throw... pretty happy to do it like that.
"I love winning and the more I can do it, the better. To do it in that fashion was awesome."
The victory breaks a string of disappointing results for the Timaru thrower, including a fourth-place finish with 21.84m in his last outing at Eugene, Oregon. Crouser won that encounter with 22.53m.
"I was a little bit disappointing in Eugene, but I didn't really catch one," said Walsh. "It was good to fix that this weekend."
He throws again this weekend in Poland.
Newshub.
