Jersey's Zane Duquemin 'gambles' with injury to make shot put final

Duquemin was the best British performer in the shot put

Jersey's Zane Duquemin said he "gambled" with a back injury to throw a season's best of 18.90m and make the final of the shot put at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 22-year-old was ninth out of 12 qualifiers for Monday's final.

"I went a bit cautious in the first round and that wasn't far enough," he told BBC Radio Jersey.

"So I thought 'take a gamble, you've done all this hard work, just go for it and see what happens'."

Duquemin, who was second at the national championships last month, has been troubled all year by a trapped nerve in his back that he suffered while sleeping.

But he said he was confident he would perform well once he went out in front of the crowd at Hampden Park.

"I'm a big-time performer, I always pull out my biggest throws at championships - pressure makes diamonds," he said.

"It's not been a great season with injury, I didn't know what to expect so I'm pleased.

"I had one training session on Friday where I managed to throw reasonably pain free.

"I had to come here and hope I could pull out a throw and I managed to do that.

"It's pretty sore now, so I'll get some treatment on it now and see what I can do."