JOHN Kelly won the National Senior Shot Put title this afternoon – and it was a 1-2 for the Kelly household.
Kelly won the gold with a superb 18.40m throw.
Younger brother James Kelly was the silver medallist, throwing a best of 16.48m, a new personal best.
The Kelly brothers saw off Galway’s Sean Breathnach, a comer champion, to take the top two places/
John Kelly previously won the title in 2017, when he reached out to 16.46m.
Finn Valley’s Gavin McLaughlin recorded a new personal best of 15.29m but finished fourth, while Donegal athletes Michaela Byrne (Finn Valley) and Conal Mahon (Tir Chonaill) were fourth in their respective triple jump competitions.
It was the Kelly’s day, though.
Last summer, John Kelly was the silver medalist in Santry, missing out to Eric Favors of Raheny Shamrocks, who won gold with a 18.64m throw.
Last month, the St Johnston man broke the Ulster, Donegal and Finn Valley AC shot put records while competing in Växjö, Sweden.
There, Kelly landed a superb 18.62m throw – bettering the 18.51m he had set in Portugal in August 2019. It was also slightly better than the 18.61m for an Irish Junior record in 2015.
Kelly retained a solid focus during the Covid-19 lockdown, working hard at home in Carrickmore under the direction of father John senior, and he has made no secret of his desire to break 19m.
The past year has seen Kelly work closely with an elite group in Sweden that also includes Swedish discus thrower Daniel Ståhl, a 2019 World Championship gold medalist in Doha.
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