Jacko Gill

{{ Infobox sportsperson

| name = Jacko Gill

| image = Jacko Gill London 2017 (cropped).jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Gill at the 2017 World Championships

| fullname = Jackson Gill

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|12|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|1.90|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (2011)

| weight = {{convert|118|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} (2012)

| website =

| country = New Zealand

| sport = Athletics

| event = Shot put

| coach =

| nationals = Shot put champion (2023)

| pb = 5 kg: 24.45 m (2011, WYB)
6 kg: 23.00 m (2013, WJR)
7.26 kg: 22.12 m (2023)

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry| {{NZL}} }}

| show-medals = yes

}}

Jackson Gill (born 20 December 1994) is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the shot put. Gill throws with his right hand, using the spin technique. In 2010, he won gold in the shot put at the World Junior Championships at the age of {{age in years and days|1994|12|20|2010|07|21}}, which made him the youngest ever male gold medalist at the World Junior Championships (surpassing Usain Bolt who was {{age in years and days|1986|08|21|2002|07|19}} old when he won the 200 metres in 2002). In 2012, he defended his title at the 2012 World Junior Championships.

Career

Gill first came to prominence in late 2009 when he set world age-14 bests with the 5 kg Shot (20.42m) and 6 kg Shot (17.41m).{{cite web |url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/feature/in-final-year-as-a-junior-gill-already-has-hi |title=In Final Year As A Junior, Gill Already Has Sights on Senior Success |publisher=IAAF.org |access-date=29 March 2013}}

At the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, as a 15-year-old, Gill won the gold in the shot put (6 kg) with a distance of 20.76m,{{cite web |url=https://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world-junior-championships/2010/13th-iaaf-world-junior-championships-4146/men/shot-put-6kg/final/series#resultheader |title=2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics: Men's shot put (final) |publisher=IAAF |access-date=11 August 2017}} beating 18- and 19-year-olds and becoming the youngest-ever male junior champion.{{cite news |title=Kiwi wins gold at world junior athletics championships |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/3944717/Kiwi-wins-world-youth-athletics-gold |publisher=Stuff |date=21 July 2010 |access-date=21 July 2010}}

In 2010, prior to the World Junior Championships, Gill threw the 5 kg shot 22.53m at an event in Stockholm, Sweden, exceeding the best-known performances with that weight for 15- and 16-year-olds. He improved to 22.60m in finishing second at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games despite being unwell. On 11 December 2010, at the New Zealand National Secondary Schools Championships, Gill set a youth (under-18) world-best performance of 23.86m (5 kg).[http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=y/season=0/sex=M/all=y/legal=A/disc=SPY/detail.html IAAF Youth All-time Shot Put list]

On 26 March 2011, at the New Zealand National Championships, Gill achieved 21.34m{{cite news |url=http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/athletics/153557/athletics-gill-adds-shot-put-world-record-collection |title=Athletics: Gill adds to shot put world record collection |author=McMurran, Alistair |date=28 March 2011 |work=Otago Daily Times |access-date=6 October 2011}} with the 6 kg shot, at the time ranking him 4th on the all-time IAAF junior list for shot put.[http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/throws/shot-put-6kg/outdoor/men/junior IAAF Junior All-time Shot Put list]

On 23 April 2011, at 16 years of age, Gill threw 20.01m with the senior shot (7.26 kg). Gill's throw broke the 44-year-old New Zealand national record set by Les Mills in 1967.{{cite news |title=Athletics: Jacko's massive throw an absolute thriller |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10721230 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=24 April 2011 |date=24 April 2011}}

This performance surpassed the standard for the 2011 Athletics World Championships, however the rules for that competition exclude anyone of Jacko's age competing in any throwing events. An appeal to the IAAF for an exception to be made to this regulation to allow Gill to compete was rejected.{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/5254029/Jacko-Gill-smashes-world-youth-shot-put-record |title=Jacko Gill sets sight on London Olympics medal |author=Woodcock, Fred |date=8 July 2011 |work=Stuff |access-date=6 October 2011}} The performance also surpassed the B standard for the 2012 Olympics[http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/statistics/standards/05/97/61/20110415082248_httppostedfile_entrystandards_london2012_24135.pdf IAAF: QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXX OLYMPIAD] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707020747/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/statistics/standards/05/97/61/20110415082248_httppostedfile_entrystandards_london2012_24135.pdf |date=7 July 2012 }} however not only was it outside the qualifying period (which started on 1 May) it was also less than the qualification standard (20.30m) subsequently set by Athletics New Zealand.[http://www.performance.athletics.org.nz/docs/teams/12_OG/2012%20OG%20Athletics%20Policy%20Final.pdf 2012 Olympic Games – London: Selection Criteria] On 5 December 2011 he qualified for the 2012 Olympics by throwing 20.38m.{{cite news |title=Athletics: Gill grabs Olympics qualifier |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10771110 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=5 December 2011 |date=5 December 2011}} On the same occasion he threw 22.31 with the 6 kg shot{{cite web |title=Teen sets record, attains Olympic standard |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/6087664/Teen-sets-record-attains-Olympic-standard |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223043234/http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/6087664/Teen-sets-record-attains-Olympic-standard |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2013 |work=stuff.co.nz |access-date=5 December 2011}} to become the second furthest junior (under-20) thrower ever with that weight. Gill has been reported as the youngest and one of the lightest athletes to throw over 20m.

On 7 July 2011 at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Lille Métropole, France, Gill won the gold medal by 4m with a World Youth Best Performance of 24.35m,[http://www.iaaf.org/WYC11/news/kind=108/newsid=60610.html IAAF World Youth Championships: Boys Shot Put Final – Gill beyond 24m, three times!] which he subsequently improved later that year with a throw of 24.45m in Auckland on 12 December.{{cite news |title=Athletics: NZ shot putter Jacko Gill breaks world record |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10774221 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=25 December 2011 |date=19 December 2011}}

On 20 July 2013 Gill broke the Oceania Junior Record with 22.32m at Brisbane, Australia.[http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/throws/shot-put-6kg/outdoor/men/junior/2013 IAAF Outdoor Junior list 2013: Shot put] He surpassed this with 22.54m at the North Shore, Auckland on 4 August.[http://athletics.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=9686 Athletics New Zealand: Cross Country Champs, Jacko Extends 6kg Shot Record & Weekly Roundup] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130805231505/http://athletics.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=9686 |date=5 August 2013 }} On 18 August, also at the North Shore in Auckland, he threw 23.00 to break the World Junior Record.[http://www.iaaf.org/news/iaaf-news/world-record-ratified6 IAAF: World Record Ratified][http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/9057426/Gill-breaks-world-junior-shot-put-record Stuff.co.nz Gill breaks world junior shot put record]

On 25 June 2014 in Rarotonga, Gill improved his personal best to 20.70m in winning the shot put title at the 2014 Oceania Area Championships in Athletics.{{cite news |title=Gill produces a career-best throw in Rarotonga |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/commonwealth-games/10206336/Gill-produces-a-career-best-throw-in-Rarotonga |work=stuff.co.nz |access-date=27 June 2014 |date=27 June 2014}}

Personal life

Gill's father, Walter, is a former discus thrower and national shot-put champion, and his mother, Nerida, is a former discus thrower.{{cite news |title=Jacko Gill: Circle this name |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/3179522/Jacko-Gill-Circle-this-name |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=20 December 2009 |access-date=21 July 2010}} He attended Takapuna Grammar School until 2010. Jacko was the subject of a "feature" interview for the IAAF's March 2013 monthly on-line newsletter, in which he said he had a keen interest in the shot from an early age: "Since about 10 years old I've decided to write all of my lifting programs and schedules for my training. I didn't really fit in well at gyms, so I decided to do all weights in our garage at home. I enjoy weight-lifting, power-lifting mainly, so will lift for around four hours a day, and throw only a couple of times per week. " He also said that his athletic "hero" is Ricky Bruch, a former Discus World record-holder from Sweden.

= Coaching =

Gill was coached by Didier Poppé during the years of his World Youth and World Junior Championships campaigns. In late 2012 he began training under the direction of former New Zealand shot champion Courtney Ireland and was later coached by Kirsten Hellier.

Achievements

{{AchievementTable\|Event=yes\|class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;}}
bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan="6"\|Representing {{NZL}}
rowspan=4\|2010 \|rowspan=2\|Oceania Youth Championships \|rowspan=2\|Sydney, Australia \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put (5 kg) \|20.62 m
bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Discus throw (1.5 kg) \|56.64 m
World Junior Championships \|Moncton, Canada \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put (6 kg) \|20.76 m
Youth Olympic Games \|Singapore \|bgcolor=silver\|2nd \|Shot put (5 kg) \|22.60 m
2011 \|World Youth Championships \|Lille, France \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put (5 kg) \|24.35 m
2012 \|World Junior Championships \|Barcelona, Spain \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put (6 kg) \|22.20 m
rowspan=2\|2014 \|Oceania Championships \|Avarua, Cook Islands \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put \|20.70 m
Commonwealth Games \|Glasgow, United Kingdom \|11th \|Shot put \|18.05 m
2015 \|World Championships \|Beijing, China \|8th \|Shot put \|20.11 m
2016 \|World Indoor Championships \|Portland, United States \|9th \|Shot put \|19.93 m
2016 \|Olympic Games \|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil \|9th \|Shot put \|20.50 m
2017 \|World Championships \|London, United Kingdom \|9th \|Shot put \|20.82 m
rowspan=2\|2019 \|Oceania Championships \|Townsville, Australia \|bgcolor=gold\|1st \|Shot put \|20.75 m
World Championships \|Doha, Qatar \|7th \|Shot put \|21.45 m
2021 \|Olympic Games \|Tokyo, Japan \|9th \|Shot put \|20.71 m
rowspan=2\|2022 \|World Championships \|Eugene, United States \|7th \|Shot put \|21.40 m
Commonwealth Games \|Birmingham, United Kingdom \|bgcolor=silver\|2nd \|Shot put \|21.90 m
2023 \|World Championships \|Budapest, Hungary \|6th \|Shot put \|21.76 m
rowspan=2\|2024 \|World Indoor Championships \|Glasgow, United Kingdom \|5th \|Shot put \|21.69 m
Olympic Games \|Paris, France \|7th \|Shot put \|21.15 m

{{AchievementTable|Event=yes|class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;}}

bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan="6"|Representing {{NZL}}

rowspan=4|2010

|rowspan=2|Oceania Youth Championships

|rowspan=2|Sydney, Australia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|Shot put (5 kg)

|20.62 m

bgcolor=gold|1st

|Discus throw (1.5 kg)

|56.64 m

World Junior Championships