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Harrison Walsh finished seventh in the Paralympic F46 discus final
05/09/2024 00:00, In Blog /
Harrison Walsh finished seventh in the Paralympic F46 discus final at the Stade de France in Paris on Thursday evening.
The former Ospreys and Wales age group rugby player was making his debut at the games after an ankle injury robbed him of his place at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
Competing in chilly conditions, Walsh made a tentative start to the competition with a relatively modest opener of 46.27m.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games discus bronze medallist, who hails from Mumbles in Swansea, has a personal best of 57.25m achieved at the Welsh Athletics Championships in Cardiff earlier this summer.
Things seemed to be heading in the right direction for Walsh as he posted 49.23m in the second round and then 50.44m in the third round.
However, the man whose rugby career was brought to an end by a freak injury which left him with no feeling below his right knee, was unable to register another valid throw from his final three efforts.
That left the 28-year-old in seventh – one place behind his Great Britain team mate Dan Greaves, who recorded a best of 53.50m.
The competition was won by Jeremy Campbell, of the USA, who led from the first round, but saved his best throw of the competition for the final round when he hurled the discus out to a new Paralympic record of 61.14m.
Akeem Stewart, of Trinidad and Tobago, claimed silver with 59.66m, while the USA’s David Blair completed the podium with 57.76m.