Exclusive: John Kelly will compete at World Athletics Championships

John Kelly will be a part of the Irish squad for the 2022 World Athletics Championships next week, Donegal Live can reveal.

Kelly received a late qualification place to make up the 32 competitors in the shot put event next Friday in Eugene, Oregon.

The 26-year-old Finn Valley AC man will get his chance on the big stage at the historic Hayward Field after a whirlwind week that saw him break the 30-year-old Irish shot put record.

On Tuesday night at the Cork City Sports, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze level meeting, Kelly threw a monster 20.16m - the first time he threw beyond 20m with the senior 7.25kg shot.

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The Tir Chonaill AC woman has set new Donegal records in the 400m hurdles and 400m in recent weeks

With some injuries and withdrawals from the World Championships list, Kelly - who is now ranked in the top 25 shot putters in Europe - received a late invite from World Athletics to take part, which was ratified by Athletics Ireland on Thursday evening.

The St Johnston native, who has five senior international caps in the Irish vest, has suddenly catapulted himself into the frame now for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 with key ranking points available by competing in Oregon.

Kelly’s rise has been remarkable and he will now be one of three Finn Valley AC men to line up at the World Championships with race walker Brendan Boyce and 800m ace Mark English also going under starter’s orders.

It is eight years ago since, in 2014, he threw a senior shot put for the first time, going out to 15.46m in Lifford.

He broke 18m for the first time in 2019 and, after almost 18 months out with a foot injury, he has returned in some style.

Kelly will become one of only three Irish shot putters in history to take part in the World Championships.  In 1993, Paul Quirke threw 17.05m at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart.

Kelly will be joined in the Irish squad by Eric Favors, the New York-born athlete who competes out of Raheny Shamrocks.

In Cork on Tuesday, although Favors threw a 20.11m effort, it was Kelly who grabbed the headlines in breaking new ground.

Just last month, Kelly - who has won 36 Irish titles - threw a new Ulster best of 19.57m when competing in Norway and recently set a new Championship record of 19.25m in winning the Irish senior shot put crown in Santry.

Kelly is based in Sweden, where he is coached by Vésteinn Hafsteinsson and competes with an elite group in Växjö that also includes Swedish discus thrower Daniel Ståhl, a 2019 World Championship gold medalist in Doha.

His work began as a young teacher alongside his father, John senior, himself a multiple Irish champion.