​Wragby athlete Jim Gillespie finishes season strongly

​Gillespie competes for his native Ireland in the 60-64 age category at events at home and abroad.

He headed to Milton Keynes for a Throws Quadrathlon, which comprises the hammer, shot put, javelin and discus, with competitors gaining points for how far each is thrown.

Jim said: “First up was the javelin, here I threw a season's best of 15.61m which got me 179 points. We then moved on to the discus, a throw of 28.70m scored 419 points and was a very solid throw. The third event was the hammer and here I threw much further than anyone else with 27.40m which scored 410 points.

"The final event was the shot putt and a throw of 8.59m scored 517 points. My final total was 1525 which broke the old Irish record by over 100 points and helped me to place second in the competition overall.

“I started the outdoor season with a national record in the Throws Triathlon, so to pick up another record so late in the season was extremely pleasing.”

Gillespie then travlled to Sheffield for his final competition of the season.

He explained; “There was a problem with the shot put throwing circle, so I ended up just doing the hammer and heavyweight hammer. However, they all went very well with a new personal best in the hammer (28.64m) and my second best throw of the year in the heavyweight hammer (10.74m). I came third in both.

“I've been very pleased with how the season has gone, bearing in mind how ill I was from December to the end of February. Missing a whole chunk of training is never good!!! So to set two Irish national records (Throws Triathlon and Quadrathlon), win the Midlands Discus title and county shot put title wasn't bad at all, especially as I also set a personal best in the shot put.

“I'm currently on my end of season break, which I needed to be honest, and am aiming to start the hard winter’s slog around mid-October.”