Kyron Duke Takes Bronze But Says Gold Was The Target

By Owen Morgan

Kyron Duke became the second Welsh athlete to claim a medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai – but admitted he was hoping to strike gold.

The day after Olivia Breen won long jump bronze, Duke followed suit by finishing third in the F41 shot put competition.

Having won silver at the London championships in 2017, Duke went into Sunday’s competition as the current world record holder having set the new mark of 14.19m in Germany earlier this season.

The Disability Sport Wales Para Academy couldn’t quite replicate that form in Dubai, but produced a best throw of 13.82m in round two, one of four efforts of more than 13m.

Uzbekistan’s Bobirjon Omanov was the surprise package of the competition as he won with a best of 14.03m, a championship record, while reigning world champion Niko Kappel, of Germany, was second after a throw of 13.87m, narrowly ahead of the Welshman.

Kyron Duke.

Afterwards Duke said of his sixth career world medal: “I’m happy but I really wanted that gold. There are mixed emotions, but I’ll keep my head high. I’ve done my team proud and done my country proud.

“It was a good competition. I was trying to adjust to the circle. I knew the throw was good on the second throw and it helped me to settle.

“I’m happy to be among the medals, that’s a good thing. It means I’m still there fighting, I’m still top three in the world and keep hold of the world record.

“The sky is the limit for me. It is a positive way to go towards 2020 now but there will be things to work on.”

It was a successful Sunday morning overall for the Great Britain team with Hannah Cockroft producing the best performance of her career as she sealed world title number 11 in a world record time in the T34 100m final, while Kare Adenegan won the silver medal.