ATHLETICS: Damien Birkinhead, the ‘Corio Colossus’, has tried valiantly to match a hot field in the final of the shot put at Rio’s Olympic Stadium but could not attain his previous best and finished 10th.
The flamed-haired big man from Geelong, who gained the nickname as the only athlete from the town of Corio to make an Olympic Games and his resemblance to the Colossus character from the movie Rob Roy, had a best throw of 20.50m, his first, in the 12-man final.
He fouled with his second and threw 20.02m in his final throw, short of his goal of breaking the national record of 21.26 held by his coach Scott Martin, or improving on his qualifying mark of 20.50m.
Only the top eight of the final 12 continued, throwing three more times. Birkinhead finished 10th.
The gold medal became a two-man duel between Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs. Crouser threw 22.22 at his second attempt and 22.26 in his third to stay ahead of medal favourite Kovacs who opened with 21.78m but could not improve.
Crouser broke the Olympic record with 22.52m in his second last attempt with Kovacs taking the bronze from his first attempt of 21.72. New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh took the bronze medal with an effort of 21.36.
However, as the youngest competitor in the final at 23, the experience at his first Olympics will be a valuable experience for Birkinhead and he will be looking to doing even better in Tokyo in 2020.
And he was Australia’s first men’s Olympic shot put finalist since Justin Anlezark finished sixth in 2004, so he has much to be proud of.
Earlier this year Birkinhead recorded a personal best of 21.21m and had to overcome a calf injury after that to make it to Rio.
“I was feeling pretty confident [after his opening throw of 20.50] but got a bit nervous and probably rushed a few things,” Birkinhead said.
“With one throw of over 22 metres and another almost 22 I tried to throw harder and it didn’t work out for me.
“I believe in myself and hopefully I’ve got what it takes to be up with them in the next couple of years and I’m looking forward to the next Games.
“I’m 23 years old, so I’ve got another 10 years in me at least.”
Neil Cadigan
olympics.com.au
