Local strongman to tackle Shot Put qualifiers at World Champs today

The British Virgin Island’s top athlete in the Shot Put discipline Eldred Henry will be aiming to qualify for the final of his event at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar today, October 3.

President of the BVI Athletic Association Steve Augustine told BVI News Henry will need to throw a distance of 20.90 metres to make the finals.

At the very least, the local strongman must throw better than 12 of the other men who will be competing in his group, Augustine stated.

Augustine further said he believes Henry is more than capable of achieving the required qualifying throw — a distance he already made as recent as May this year.

Eldred’s current best in the Shot Put event is 21.47 metres which he threw at the NCAA DII Nationals in Texas some five months ago.

Henry is set to compete in Group A of the Men’s Shot-Put event against 17 other throwers at around 12:20 pm local time.

Group B of this event has a total of 18 throwers.

Meanwhile, local long jumper Chantel Malone — who is the reigning Pan American Games champion — is expected to compete in her event on October 5.

This will be Malone’s fifth time competing at the IAAF World Championships after doing so in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

In 2017, Malone became the BVI’s first outdoor finalist in the Women’s Long Jump event.