Womack’s forced into changes ahead of Paralympics (From Western Telegraph)

Womack’s forced into changes ahead of Paralympics

4:50pm Wednesday 20th June 2012 in London Olympics 2012 - Latest News

PARAYLYMPIC hopeful Robin Womack has been forced to change his shot putt technique, just 70 days before the London Games begin.

The wheelchair bound 41-year-old saw his initial series of throws ruled out by the judges at Stoke Mandeville due to the movement of the supportive bar on his throwing frame.

And Womack is keen to avoid a repeat performance.

“It was a top official who ruled out my throws because he said my bar was bending too much and we’re now working on stopping that because we don’t want it to happen again,” said Womack, who is based in Southend.

“It was a bit frustrating because I had thrown 10.82metres which would have been a season’s best but I had to go out again two hours after the competition to throw again.

“I put a bracket on the bar to stop it moving but I didn’t really attack it like I had been because I was wary of the judges.

“I still managed to get 10.50m but I weigh 20 stone so I think it’s going to be quite tricky to stop that bar moving.”

After appearing at Stoke Mandeville, Womack competed at the German Open and won bronze with a throw of 10.70m.

That was the sixth time this season he had gone over the qualifying mark for the Olympics.

And he followed that up by winning gold in the discus with a personal best throw of 29.30m.

“I was pleased with how everything went in Germany,” said Womack.

“I was mixing it with some of the top guys and I feel like they’re starting to take notice of me now.”