It has been a long wait but. Marshall Hall (Taieri) has finally broken the long-standing Otago senior men's discus record.
Robin Tait (Ariki), the Commonwealth Games champion in 1974, threw the discus 56.86m in 1966 and it remained the Otago record for 47 years. It was the oldest record on Athletics Otago's books.
At an interclub meeting in Auckland on Wednesday night, Hall beat the record by 20cm with a throw of 57.06m. It was a personal best by 2.41m.
''Marshall wanted that record,'' Raylene Bates, his coach, said.
''The next target is the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 60m.''
Hall (25) now lives in Auckland, where he is a social worker. But he remains affiliated to the Taieri club, so is eligible for Otago records.
He had a best distance of 54.02m when he lived in Dunedin but improved this to 54.65m earlier this month in Auckland.
''I'm very happy for Marshall,'' Bates said.
''He had an operation on his right shoulder earlier this year and is now finding his feet.''
Hall was under a lot of pain when he competed over the past two years.
''Marshall had to look at his technique more carefully after the operation and has improved some of the technical aspects of his throwing,'' Bates said. At the start of this season the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard looked to be out of his grasp.
But that has changed because that target is less that 3m away.
Tait, who died young and whose achievements were clouded by rumours of steroid use, still holds the Otago senior men's shot put record of 16.88m he threw five months after his discus record on November 23, 1966.
