Connor Bell breaks discus record – again

Connor Bell breaks another record.
Photo: ALISHA LOVRICH

Connor Bell has added a further 9 centimetres to his senior men’s national discus record with a toss of 66.23 metres to claim an emphatic victory at the Maurie Plant meet in Australia.

Just 35 days after claiming the 21-year-old senior men’s national record from Ian Winchester with a 66.14m effort in Hastings, Bell further underlined his growing foothold on the global scene to inflict a heavy defeat on Australia’s Commonwealth champion Matt Denny (62.73m).

For Bell it was a 21st national record of his career – including national senior, national resident and age-group marks – and it edged him closer to the entry standard of 67.00m for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August.

The discus took place the day before the main programme of the Maurie Plant meet, which will take place on Thursday at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne and will feature 14 New Zealand athletes at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.

Auckland-based Bell, who owns New Zealand men’s senior, U20, U19, U18 and U17 discus records, will be one of the big names in action at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Wellington next month as he seeks a hat-trick of senior men’s discus titles.