WORLD RECORD HOLDER Ryan Crouser entered as somewhat of a mystery. Handicapped by a gimpy ulnar nerve in his right elbow and an April pectoralis muscle tear, he had not competed outdoors in 2024. His March 1 victory at the World Indoors in Glasgow was his most recent meet. Would the familiar Crouser — the one with a 41-10 career win-loss record against Joe Kovacs — reappear in his favorite venue?
The mystery remained unanswered after the qualifying round. Crouser appeared with a new haircut, a bushier beard and a restrained throwing motion that produced a 70-4¼/21.44 mark on his first and only attempt. That was more than enough to suffice, as only Payton Otterdahl (71-2½/21.70) and Kovacs (72-7¼/22.13, also on his only attempt) would throw farther.
“It’s been a tough road, for sure,” said Crouser. “But I’m proud of how I’ve overcome what has been a really difficult spring.”
On the meet’s second, warm evening, 12 of the world’s top shot putters commenced their individual battles with gravity.
After some cautious warmups, Crouser entered the ring as the fourth thrower. He assumed his familiar stance, spun quickly, let out a loud roar and watched the ball fly. It fell to earth at a measured 73-7½ (22.44). Two throwers later, Kovacs launched his out to 73-7¼ (22.43).
Another battle for the ages? No. Contest essentially over, Paris berths booked.
Crouser, encouraging the crowd into frenzied support on each subsequent attempt, improved to 73-10¼ (22.51) and 74-11¼ (22.84), and added a 74-¼ (22.56). He displayed no adverse effects from his injuries, after going more than two months without a “real throw” and changing his technique for an approach with less force.
“I was a little nervous, because it’s the Trials, but I was relatively pain-free, and I felt like I was learning something each round, so I backed off the intensity a little bit and tried to throw more efficiently, and I bought myself six more weeks to keep getting better.”
Kovacs, history’s second-longest thrower, never managed a breakthrough, and had only one other good — in his estimation — mark, 73-3½ (22.34). “I didn’t perform the way I would have liked, but the most important thing was to take the next step, to qualify.”
Otterdahl’s big 73-½ (22.26) on his fifth attempt moved him past Jordan Geist’s 71-6 (21.79) for the all-important 3rd place. Josh Awotunde was 5th for the second successive Trials, as seven men exceeded 21 meters.
For more than an hour after the meet ended, the Big Two slowly circled the oval, posing for photos, signing autographs and chatting with legions of fans who lined the rails outside lane 9.
MEN’S SHOT RESULTS
FINAL (June 22)
1. Ryan Crouser (Nik) 74-11¼ (22.84)
(73-7½, 73-10¼, 71-¾, 74-11¼, 74-¼, f) (22.44, 22.51, 21.66, 22.84, 22.56, f);
2. Joe Kovacs (Nik/NYAC) 73-7¼ (22.43)
(73-7¼, f, 71-6¼, 70-1, f, 73-3½) (22.43, f, 21.80, 21.36, f, 22.34);
3. Payton Otterdahl (unat) 73-½ (22.26)
(f, 69-4, 69-11½, 70-10, 73-½, 72-2¼) (f, 21.13, 21.32, 21.59, 22.26, 22.00);
4. Jordan Geist (IronW) 71-6 (21.79)
(71-4¾, 70-7¾, 71-6, 70-1, 69-8, 71-3¼) (21.76, 21.53, 21.79, 21.36, 21.23, 21.72);
5. Josh Awotunde (Shore) 71-5¼ (21.77)
(69-1¼, f, 69-8, f, f, 71-5¼) (21.06, f, 21.23, f, f, 21.77);
6. Roger Steen (Velaasa) 70-7 (21.51)
(68-10, 70-7, 70-1¾, 68-6½, f, 67-9¾) (20.98, 21.51, 21.38, 20.89, f, 20.67);
7. Tripp Piperi (unat) 69-¾ (21.05)
(68-5, 67-10¾, 69-¾, 68-5, f, f) (20.85, 20.69, 21.05, 20.85, f, f);
8. Tarik O’Hagan (Ms) 68-10 (20.98)
(66-6, 66-9¾, 68-5, 68-10, f, 68-4¼) (20.27, 20.36, 20.85, 20.98, f, 20.83);
9. T’Mond Johnson (GarS) 67-6¼ (20.58); 10. Patrick Larrison (unat) 65-¾ (19.83); 11. Jordan West (unat) 64-8 (19.71); 12. Nikolas Curtiss (unat) 63-10½ (19.47) .
QUALIFYING (June 21)
Qualifiers: Kovacs 72-7¼ (22.13); Otterdahl 71-2½ (21.70); Crouser 70-4¼ (21.44); Piperi 69-11½ (21.32); Geist 69-8¼ (21.24); Steen 68-10¾ (21.00); Awotunde 68-8 (20.93); Tarik O’Hagan (Ms) 67-2¾ (20.49); Johnson 66-10 (20.37); West 65-4¾ (19.93); Larrison 65-1¼ (19.84); Curtiss 64-11¼ (19.79);
Non-qualifiers: CJ Licata (SC) 64-3¾ (19.60); John Meyer (LSU) 64-3 (19.58); Dylan Targgart (SC) 63-10¼ (19.46); Hayden Tobias (OhSt) 63-3½ (19.29); Myles Kerner (GVal) 62-8½ (19.11); Tyler Sudduth (Il) 62-8 (19.10); Daniel McArthur (unat) 62-7¾ (19.09); Jason Swarens (Wi) 62-5¼ (19.03); Kevin Shubert (Nb) 61-5½ (18.73); Cam Jones (IaSt) 61-4 (18.69); Danny Bryant (BYU) 61-0 (18.59); Michael Shoaf (NDm) 60-6½ (18.45).