Versatile Robinson wins world shot put silver medal

Photo: © Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Ltd 2021 www.photosport.nz

After just missing out on a medal in her specialist javelin event at the para athletics world championships, New Zealand’s Holly Robinson rebounded to win a silver medal in the women’s shot put.

Competing in the shot for the first time at a world championships, Robinson unleashed an Oceania record throw of 11.59m in the F46 category to finish second behind American Noelle Malkamaki, who set three world records topped by a best of 13.32m.

With the women’s shot put F46 recently re-introduced into the major championship programme the event has given Robinson a fresh focus and she showed her versatility to add to her four previous world medals won in the javelin (three silver and one bronze).

Robinson, the Paralympic javelin champion, underwent elbow surgery in January and was understandably not quite her best in her specialist event finishing fourth, but on Saturday the 28-year-old Dunedin-based athlete delivered in the shot circle.

In round one, the Kiwi took an immediate hold on silver with a 10.92m effort to trail the outstanding Malkamaki who fired out a huge 12.31m in round.

The competition stepped up in class in round two. While Robinson added 24cm on to her four-year-old Oceania record with a 11.59m effort, Malkamaki effectively sealed the competition by enhancing the world record of Yukiko Saito of Japan by 55cm with that gargantuan 13.02m hurl.

Robinson, who is coached by Raylene Bates, said: “It feels cool (to podium in the shot). I wasn’t expecting silver I thought bronze would have been the tussle, but I’m super stoked and over the moon with silver.

“I had some clear goals with shot, and I knew what I needed to do to get the distances that I wanted, I’m just glad it all worked out on the day.

“I was pretty happy with how I threw. We had a solid field, and anyone could have taken those second and third spots, so I’m really happy I got the distance.

‘It seems weird that I will going into the Paralympics as the world shot silver medallist and fourth in javelin, so it is kind of backwards for me. But I’m really excited to see what the next year holds. It would be cool to compete in two events and medal in two events at the Paris Paralympics.”

– RNZ