Wellington man is one of the few who can say: 'I beat Jonah Lomu'

Scott Bradley is one of the few people who can say "I beat Jonah Lomu".

The 40-year-old Wellington man went to Wesley College with Lomu in the late 1980s and early 90s.

And he is the record holder for the only event in the schools' junior and intermediate athletics champs that Lomu entered but didn't win - the cricket ball throw.

It was a clean sweep for 14-year-old Lomu in every other event he entered in 1989 - a whopping 10 events in total - including everything from the 100m and 200m sprint to hurdles, long jump, high jump, triple jump, javelin, discus and shot put, but not the cricket ball throw.

And the 1991 yearbook shows Lomu won every event he entered, again except for the cricket ball throw, in which he placed second behind Mr Bradley.

The Wesley College athletic champions 1989.

Mr Bradley said it was an absolute honour to have his name up next to the New Zealand legend.

"The cricket ball throw was early on, before he won all the other ones, so there wasn't as much pressure. A good Pukekohe southerly helped as well, when it was my turn.

"It's an honour, a privilege to even think that. You just think about it now and the contrast, and everything. To be able to stand up and beat him. I didn't beat him by much at all, just a little bit."

Mr Bradley - a rugby and cricket fan - stayed in touch with Lomu through the years and said the gentle giant always had time for his friends.

He was devastated when he heard of his friend's death yesterday.

"I was devastated. Because of the pace, I think it was two days before that he posted [on Facebook] they were in Dubai and he was loving life. I couldn't believe it. It's just devastating, [he's] 40 years old.

Jonah Lomu with Wesley College sevens team, from 1991 yearbook (Lomu is third from left in second row). Photo / Supplied

"We knew him before he became famous, sort of thing. He could walk down the road and get 100 friends but not many people knew him. He always took the time to message, no matter what he was doing in his life."

The pair were at Wesley College together in Year 9 but it wasn't until a year later that Lomu showed his true sporting prowess, Mr Bradley said.

Another Wesley College pupil, understood to be Jeremy Steedman, took out the 800m and 1500m events in the 1989 athletics but it is understood Lomu did not enter the endurance events.

"He just dominated. Everything, the 100m, the 200m. He didn't do the longer one...but he just cleaned up everything else," Mr Bradley said.

"We started in Third Form [Year 9] and he didn't really do much then, but it was sort of halfway through Fourth Form [Year 10] he really started. He spent most nights in gym. He started off just normal...then he just got right into his fitness and just went crazy on it."

Former New Zealand Herald editor Tim Murphy first shared the snapshot of the athletics record on Twitter and it has since been retweeted more than 2500 times.

International media, including The Guardian, have run the tweet as part of their coverage about Lomu's death.

About 80,000 people, including Lomu fans worldwide, have interacted with the tweet so far.

Twitter user Ian Harkin joked about the rugby legend's pace below the picture.

"Did he bother actually going over the hurdles or did he just run straight through them?" he tweeted.

"The only reason J Steedman was so good at the long distance is because Jonah was probably chasing him," Twitter member @krisssned joked.

While Glenn Pearce commented: "S. Bradley must have had a bloody good arm!"

The cricket ball throw is a common event in New Zealand school athletics competitions, with the winning student throwing the ball the furthest. Measurements are taken from where the ball first bounces.