The Timaru shot-putter Tom Walsh has broken the national record for the second time in a week.
Walsh won the event at the prestigious Zatopek Classic in Melbourne with a throw of 20.61 metres.
The distance betters the Commonwealth Games A qualifying standard of 20.60 metres and is well over the qualifying distance of 20.30 metres for the World Indoor championships in Poland in March.
Walsh broke Jacko Gill's previous national record of 20.38 metres with a throw of 20.45m at a low key meet in nearby Geelong on Saturday.
This throw, particularly in such a high profile competition, has propelled Walsh to a ranking of 22nd in the world and fifth in the Commonwealth for 2013, and his throw in Melbourne would have placed him 10th at the London Olympics and seventh in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
