​Shot putter Tom Walsh has had a stellar career, two Olympic bronze medals, two Commonwealth games gold medals (and a silver),  plus a pair of   indoor world champion titles.

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 The some-time builder from Timaru has been both a New Zealand and a World champion and he once held the number one ranking in his sport.

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​​ Tom Walsh, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at seven-years-old, didn’t always find school easy.  He worked extra hard to keep up his academics,   which often meant doing extra work before and after school. 

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​ Gavin Miller, Timaru Boys High school’s sports co-ordinator and one of Walsh’s coaches during his teens says,​

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 “It was very ingrained in Tom that whatever he did, he did his best. That included the classroom which, for a boy that had an

   increasingly high profile throughout the school with his sporting ability, was a positive thing.  Other kids noticed that and

   the staff  noticed it.” 

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    "Walsh gave everything a go, whether that was rugby, hockey, or cricket," Miller said. 

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 Tom became an increasingly able as an athlete. The interesting thing was that Jacko Gill was such a phenomenon at school, even though he was   younger than Tom, the focus was on Jacko.  But Tom kept working quietly at it and kept improving and bridging that gap.

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​ Miller said Walsh remains “really connected” with his community, whether that meant helping out at school or sending in videos for students learning   about physics or sports. 

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      “As somebody with his commitments, that’s impressive,” Miller said. 

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​ Tom’s hopes for his third straight Shot Put medal at consecutive Olympics came to an end after a groin injury at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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