New Zealand’s Tom Walsh, the oldest man in the shot put final at 34, finished as the highest man at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 as he retained his title with a grandstand finish to secure a fourth gold and a seventh medal in his competition – a men’s record.

For four rounds Jordan Geist of the United States occupied first place thanks to an opening 21.64m which was followed by three huge fouls.

But part-time builder Walsh – who won the world outdoor title back in 2017 and who will seek a third consecutive Commonwealth title in Glasgow later this year – kept laying brick upon brick to get closer to the US thrower.

Walsh took the lead in round five by two centimetres with an effort of 21.66m. Geist fouled again with the last throw of the round, and could only manage 21.36m next time round to leave Walsh as champion once again.

By way of celebration, Walsh finished like the true champion he is by registering a season’s best of 21.82m.

Geist thus took silver ahead of the man who beat him to the US indoor title this year and who arrived here with the second best mark of the season, 22.07m, but who on his occasion had to settle for bronze with a final-round best of 21.49m.

Walsh, who earned Olympic bronze medals in 2016 and 2021, thus made history with a world indoor record that consists of four golds – from 2016, 2018, 2025 and 2026 – a silver in 2024 and bronzes from 2022 and 2014. It all began for him in Poland – but who will say it ended here?

Maria Mutola of Mozambique holds the record for world indoor medals with nine. But no man other than Walsh has bettered a total of six.

Missing out on a medal by one place was another of this competition’s elder statesmen, 32-year-old Briton Scott Lincoln, who produced the performance of his life to register 21.13m – a personal best by one centimetre.

Surprisingly Leonardo Fabbri, the Italian who leads this year’s world list on 22.50m, and who earned bronze in 2024, failed to fire properly and missed the final round, finishing seventh with 20.92m.

Fifth and sixth places were filled by Sweden’s Wictor Petersson on 21.12m and the third US athlete in the field, Josh Awotunde, on 20.96m.

Home thrower Konrad Bukowiecki raised hopes in the arena with a second-round effort of 20.62m but could not find another scoring effort, finishing eighth.

Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

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