Armstrong tactics

Making his move up the ranks of the world's top shot putters, Canadian Dylan Armstrong is a favourite for Commonwealth gold in Delhi.

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | 2:16 PM ET

By Paul Gains, CBC Sports

Dylan Armstrong, here competing at the 2010 Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, came within one centimetre of a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. (Kyrre Lien/AFP/Getty Images)

He competes in an event that attracts relatively little attention, but Dylan Armstrong has nonetheless made a name for himself as one of the world's finest shot putters.

The six-foot-four, 309-pound native of Kamloops, B.C., has also become one of Canada's best hopes for a medal at the 2012 London Olympics, and he should be the favourite for gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, in October.

You may remember Armstrong from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he unleashed a superb Canadian-record throw of 21.04 metres, coming within one centimetre of a surprise bronze medal.

Rather than dwell on the heartbreak of missing the Olympic podium by the slimmest of margins, Armstrong was out the next morning training at 7:30 a.m., looking to continue his improvement.

But he failed to qualify for the IAAF world championship final last summer, a bitterly disappointing result. Again, rather than sulk, Armstrong went back to work. A hard winter of training has paid off and he's now throwing better than ever, propelling the 16-pound ball a distance of 21 metres no less than nine times.

His Canadian record now stands at 21.58m — an enormous improvement in such a short period of time.

"I think there's a couple of reasons for it," Armstrong, 29, said at this summer's Canadian track and field championships in Toronto, where his 20.55m toss was good enough to claim the shot put title for the fifth year in a row.

"It's not a [world] championship year and I have kind of been working solely on my technique with Dr. B and just trying to get my technique better for next year and the year after for the London Olympics."

Doctor's orders

"Dr. B" is Dr. Anatoli Bondarchuk, the 1972 Olympic hammer throw champion and coach of the legendary Soviet Olympian Yuriy Sedekh. It was Bondarchuk who took aside a promising young hammer thrower named Dylan Armstrong and told him the shot put was his best event. The pair has never looked back.

"I keep in really good communication with Dr. B even when I am over in Europe," Armstrong says. "We set some goals for the competitions and then I speak to him afterwards. I have been coming back and forth to Europe so many times this year and that has helped. Go to Europe, come back to Dr. B and train. We have always got a game plan."

This newfound jet-set lifestyle is due to some private sponsors who have invested in Armstrong's 2012 Olympic dream, as well as a Nike endorsement contract. Still, there's no flash in Armstrong's lifestyle. Every penny finances his primary objective: winning an Olympic medal in London.

"I am 29 now," he said. "I am hoping to peak at London and then, who knows after that. I could possibly throw until I'm 35, but obviously the main goal is to get onto the podium in London."

For love of country

This year's Canadian championships offered little competition for Armstrong, who didn't throw anywhere near his best but still beat the field by more than three metres. After the many European meets he's competed in, where he can earn thousands of dollars, the national championship offered little more than an opportunity to honour an agreement with the federation that has helped support him.

As a requirement of Athletics Canada's athlete assistance program, Armstrong must show up at the national championship. It seems like a waste of time for an athlete of his calibre, but anyone hoping to go to India for the Commonwealth Games was required to participate.

Although many of the top Canadians feel the Delhi Games are too late in the season for a good performance, Armstrong reasons that he would be training hard at this time of year anyway. So why not don the Canadian uniform one more time?

He also feels he has an obligation to the young athletes who look up to him.

“I think it's important to represent my country. Any time I get an opportunity to try and get Canada a medal at any major international event, I won't turn it down,” Armstrong says. “It's my job to promote my sport and event. I need to show leadership and get young kids interested. If I don't go, how will anyone know what the shot put is in my country?”

Catch 22

With no world championships this year, Armstrong decided to build up to the IAAF World Cup meet in Split, Croatia, in early September, so a 21-metre throw at nationals in early August was unlikely.

"I am really worn down right now," Armstrong said before competing in Toronto. "I have been beating up my body quite hard so I just don't know what I can throw."

Armstrong's long-range goal is to someday throw past 22 metres. That would put him close to the best mark of the year — a 22.41m heave by reigning world champ Christian Cantwell of the U.S. The world record is 23.12, set in 1990 by another American, Randy Barnes.

"I would just like to stay consistent and see what happens from there," Armstrong said. "For me, it's all abut placing well in the Diamond League meets this season and then I will get into the winter season and hopefully get some bigger distances.

"Twenty-two metres is definitely a possibility. Absolutely."