Gillespie excels in hammer and shot​

Jim, who competes in the throwing events and represents his native Ireland, was in Rugby last weekend where he competed in the heavyweight hammer category.

He is the Irish record holder in the 55-59 years age group so it his favourite event, and with him now competing in the 60-64 age group he hit the ground running as he threw a personal best distance of 12.13m, improving on his previous best of 11.64m and placing him firmly at the top of the Irish rankings.

The following day, son Kieran opened his season over 400m with a new lifetime best of 54.17 seconds to place second in a cold Loughborough.

Jim said: “As you can imagine, he was ecstatic with the performance. It’s quite rare to run a personal best in your first race of the season, so good things are hoped for as he progresses through the rest of the season.”

At the same venue, Jim also took part in the shot put with a throw of 8.79m and the discus with 28.47m, again producing good performances in the cold conditions.

Last month, Jim had completed the indoor season at the Veterans AC championships in London.

This is the oldest veterans championships in the world, having been set up in the 1970s when athletics for the the over-35s was just getting started worldwide.

He competed in the M60 age group in the shot put and won with an effort of 9.14m, his second best throw ever.

This proved enough for a comprehensive victory with second-placed Chris Michael from London throwing 7.94m.

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