THE MEN’S SHOT had seen no fewer than four back-to-back OG winners prior to Paris but Ryan Crouser put himself into a league of his own when he 3-peated on the biggest stage of all with his third-round winning effort of 75-1¾ (22.90).
Crouser has had his fitness issues this year — ulnar nerve problems in his right elbow and a pectoralis muscle tear in April — and didn’t compete outdoors until the Olympic Trials 6 weeks ago, but when it came to the crunch no one got close to the WR holder.
He opened with 74-3½ (22.64), improved to 74-5½ (22.69) with his next effort and then launched his 16-pound implement out to 75-1¾ (22.90) in the third round.
All three of his valid throws would have taken the gold and, with the rain starting to come down, it was game over.
Fouls followed in rounds 4 and 5 as the conditions deteriorated before a slight lull in the storm during the final stanza.
However, with the competition won, Crouser raised his arms to the heavens, signaled to the judges that he was done for the day and deservedly took the wild applause from the 75,000 fans in the Stade de France, the biggest crowd at a track meet since London ’12.
“I feel so lucky to be out there competing,” Crouser reflected. “This year hasn’t been easy. The elbow injury, the back… just so many setbacks. A lot of self-doubt [crept in] as to whether I would get back. [It] took a lot to get back to where I had been in the past. It’s made it all the more special to be out there tonight. There were a lot of times I thought I might not be.
“In Tokyo, I felt so much pressure to perform because I had just thrown the World Record. I was in fantastic shape. It felt like it was mine to lose. Tonight, I just felt happy to be here, I felt so appreciative.”
Behind Crouser, a long way behind in fact, an intriguing battle for the other medals was waged.
Jamaican surprise package Rajindra Campbell, a talented but erratic performer who didn’t register a valid mark in either the ’23 WC final or the ’24 WIC, sent the shot out to 72-8 (22.15) in the second round, less than 3 inches short of his best of 72-10¾ (22.22).
Campbell stayed in 2nd for the rest of the competition until Rio/Tokyo silver medalist Joe Kovacs took his last attempt.
Kovacs’ clutch effort was measured at exactly the same distance of 72-10¾ but, thanks to a better backup, moved up from 5th to 2nd.
“It was pretty tough,” Kovacs said. “[In the early rounds] I was swinging for the fences, going for the gold. Once that rain started, I knew it was going to be difficult, but it helped me calm down a little bit, I made sure I got my footing. I don’t want to leave here without a piece of hardware,” said Kovacs.
“This is my third Olympics… I don’t know if I have another one in me. I hope I do, but at the same time I’m proud that I went out there [and got the silver].”
It also had the effect of nudging Payton Otterdahl off the podium. Although the youngest of the Americans improved to 72-3½ (22.03) with his final effort it wasn’t quite enough to deliver a U.S. clean sweep of the medals. Campbell went on to produce his fourth consecutive foul in a bid to recover second position.
Something of a surprise was that Italy’s ’24 European champ Lorenzo Fabbri — who not had an outdoor meet below 22m this year prior to Paris — had his worst meet of the summer and placed 5th with 71-2½ (21.70).
MEN’S SHOT RESULTS
FINAL (August 03)
(temperature 75F/23C; humidity 59-63%)
1. Ryan Crouser (US) 75-1¾ (22.90)
(74-3½, 74-5½, 75-1¾, f, f, p) (22.64, 22.69, 22.90, f, f, p);
2. Joe Kovacs (US) 72-8 (22.15)
(71-2, f, 71-2¾, f, f, 72-8) (21.69, f, 21.71, f, f, 22.15);
3. Rajindra Campbell (Jam) 72-8 (22.15)
(65-7½, 72-8, f, f, f, f) (20.00, 22.15, f, f, f, f);
4. Payton Otterdahl (US) 72-3½ (22.03)
(70-2¼, 72-1½, 72-2½, f, f, 72-3½) (21.39, 21.98, 22.01, f, f, 22.03);
5. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 71-2½ (21.70)
(f, 68-9¼, f, 71-2½, f, f) (f, 20.96, f, 21.70, f, f);
6. Chuk Enekwechi (Ngr) 70-3½ (21.42)
(67-6¼, 70-3½, 68-11¼, f, f, f) (20.58, 21.42, 21.01, f, f, f);
7. Jacko Gill (NZ) 69-4¾ (21.15)
(f, 68-3¼, 69-4¾, f, 63-1¼, 67-2) (f, 20.81, 21.15, f, 19.23, 20.47);
8. Uziel Muñoz (Mex) 68-6 (20.88)
(67-10¼, 68-6, 68-3, f, 66-7, f) (20.68, 20.88, 20.80, f, 20.29, f);
9. Marcus Thomsen (Nor) 67-9¾ (20.67)
(f, 67-6¼, 67-9¾) (f, 20.58, 20.67);
10. Tomáš Staněk (CzR) 66-10 (20.37)
(66-7¾, 66-10, f) (20.31, 20.37, f);
11. Zane Weir (Ita) 66-5 (20.24)
(f, 66-5, f) (f, 20.24, f);
… 3f—Tom Walsh (NZ).
| * = progression of the leading throw; ¶ = athlete’s best of the day |
| first 3 rounds | |||
| Thomsen | f | 20.58 | 20.67¶ |
| Otterdahl | 21.39* | 21.98 | 22.01 |
| Gill | f | 20.81 | 21.15¶ |
| Kovacs | 21.69* | f | 21.71 |
| Staněk | 20.31 | 20.37¶ | f |
| Crouser | 22.64* | 22.69* | 22.90*¶ |
| Weir | f | 20.24 | f |
| Campbell | 20.00 | 22.15¶ | f |
| Enekwechi | 20.58 | 21.42¶ | 21.01 |
| Muñoz | 20.68 | 20.88¶ | 20.80 |
| Fabbri | f | 20.96 | f |
| Walsh | f | f | f |
| rounds 4 & 5 | |||
| Muñoz | f | 20.29 | |
| Fabbri | 21.70¶ | f | |
| Gill | f | 19.23 | |
| Enekwechi | f | f | |
| Kovacs | f | f | |
| Otterdahl | f | f | |
| Campbell | f | f | |
| Crouser | f | f | |
| last round | |||
| Muñoz | f | ||
| Gill | 20.47 | ||
| Enekwechi | f | ||
| Fabbri | f | ||
| Kovacs | 22.15¶ | ||
| Otterdahl | 22.03¶ | ||
| Campbell | f | ||
| Crouser | p | ||
QUALIFYING (August 02; auto-qualifier 70-½/21.35)
Qualifiers: Fabbri 71-4¾ (21.76), Staněk 70-10¾ (21.61), Otterdahl 70-7¼ (21.52), Crouser 70-6¼ (21.49), Walsh 70-5¾ (21.48), Gill 70-½ (21.35), Kovacs 69-8¼ (21.24), Muñoz 69-7½ (21.22), Enekwechi 69-4 (21.13), Campbell 69-¾ (21.05), Weir 68-10¾ (21.00), Thomsen 68-3¼ (20.81);
Non-qualifiers: Kyle Blignaut (SA) 68-2¼ (20.78), Filip Mihaljević (Cro) 68-1 (20.75), Mohamed Daouda Tolo (Sau) 67-9 (20.65), Tsanko Arnaudov (Por) 66-7¾ (20.31), Bob Bertemes (Lux) 66-6 (20.27), Andrei Toader (Rom) 66-5 (20.24), Michał Haratyk (Pol) 65-5 (19.94), Mostafa Amer Hassan (Egy) 64-7¾ (19.70), Scott Lincoln (GB) 64-7¼ (19.69), Roman Kokoshko (Ukr) 63-6¼ (19.36), Nazareno Sasia (Arg) 63-5 (19.33), Armin Sinančević (Ser) 63-4¼ (19.31), Hamza Mohamed (Egy) 63-2¾ (19.27), Mesud Pezer (Bos) 62-5¼ (19.03), Eric Favors (Ire) 62-5 (19.02), Konrad Bukowiecki (Pol) 61-9½ (18.83), Tajinderpal Singh (Ind) 59-2¾ (18.05);… 3f—Wellington Morais (Bra), Francisco Belo (Por).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 9–11q)