Davies takes discus title and wants a shot at able-bodied 2022 Commonwealth Games
Amid the talk about new straps, buckles and black leather on Aled Davies’s newly constructed supporting leg yesterday, the Welshman revealed the one thing that now separates him from his rivals. He wants to represent his country in the Commonwealth Games shot put after winning a fifth World Para Athletics Championships title.
The 26-year-old won the F42 discus, claiming a third straight world title in the event he won at the London 2012 Paralympics.
When the discus was removed from the Paralympic programme for Rio, Bridgend-born Davies redoubled his efforts and won the shot-put gold. It is now his target for next Saturday and beyond. “I’m in good shape, really strong. I think I can throw 18 metres next Saturday and really bury the comp,” he said.
“We’ll be aiming towards ablebodied Commonwealths over the next few years. That’s the long-term goal. I think the Olympics would be a bit out of reach.”
Davies, the Welsh champion, believes the 2022 Commonwealth Games is a more realistic target than next year’s event on Australia’s Gold Coast. “The Commonwealth Games are just an aspiration. You’ve got to have something to aim for. Everyone is always ‘Ahh, you are so far ahead, what are you doing? How do you keep motivated?’ I can be on the able-body circuit because I want to be in conditions where I am chasing other people. It’s hard to be out there and lead the way.
“Since 2012 I knew if I wanted to take the sport to a new level and compete with able-bodied guys, that was the focus. We really pushed the shot put. I won the Welsh able-bodied Championships. I was delighted with that. That’s something not many people have
done. We’ll be aiming towards ablebodied Commonwealths over the next few years.”
Davies’s life changed five years ago. “September 2, 10 in the morning on a Sunday, throwing a plate in a field further than anybody else. My life changed. That performance was for the crowd. I remember that day and it was the way they carried me. I shouldn’t have won that event – I really shouldn’t have – but I did.
“It’s quite emotional, but I’m trying to keep it together. I’m looking to do something really special in the shot next Saturday night. That’s the one we’ve been building towards all year. We’ve been out in America, working with the best shot putters in the world. I’m excited, I really am.”
The discus is no longer his signature event, he explained. “Not any more. I’m being moulded into a shot putter. I’m still a bit too big for a discus thrower. I’m 116-117kg now. Ideally if I was to focus on discus I’d drop down to 110 to be a bit slicker. I’m in good shape, really strong. I really think I can throw 18 metres next Saturday.
“The physique change means everything. Speed across the circle. It’s all good dropping weight and moving quicker across the circle, but if you can’t control it, it’s useless. It’s been a lot of technical changes, being able to apply force at the right angles, working on a lot of biomechanics.”
And then the leg brace. “I can’t tell you the exact details [of how it helps] and give away my trade secrets. We’ve used force plates, we’ve used biomechanics. My disability hinders me in such a way I can’t throw without it. [The brace] puts my leg in the positions I need to be in. It’s all about getting a lower centre of gravity.”