THE BEST SHOT PUTTERS in the world may be forgiven for thinking they had a chance to beat Ryan Crouser. The winner of the 5 major outdoor golds in the last decade had not even thrown in a standard competition this season because of his injured throwing elbow. The status of that joint remained a mystery to everyone outside of Crouser’s camp. Any wannabe podium topper had to figure, if not now, when?
Crouser proved his fitness in qualifying by lobbing one out to 70-1½ (21.37), just past the auto-qualifier. Teammate Tripp Piperi threw farther at 70-5¼ (21.47), and Kiwi Tom Walsh led at 71-4 (21.74).
In the final, Walsh quickly jumped into gold position with his season best 71-11¾ (21.94). Then Crouser stepped up, beginning his spin more slowly than usual. He punched it to 70-3 (21.41).
In round 2, Crouser spun faster to put himself in the lead with a 72-1¾ (21.99). World leader Leonardo Fabbri moved into bronze position with his 71-7½ (21.83). USATF champ Josh Awotunde got his best throw of the day, a 69-4¼ (21.14) that ultimately would place him 7th. The next stanza saw Crouser produce a 71-6 (21.79). Fabbri’s best throw of the day landed just barely outside the sector line. Piperi got his best, a 70-6½ (21.50); he would finish 6th.
Ten throwers continued in round 4. While Crouser fouled, the biggest marks went to Fabbri at 70-10 (21.59) and Mexico’s Uziel Muñoz at 70-6½ (21.50).
Round 5, with 8 throwers, put the heat on the defending champion. First Walsh exploded to 71-11¾ (21.94) to move to 2nd before skipping out of the ring in celebration. Then Fabbri matched that distance a throw later, bumping ahead on the next-best mark. For Crouser, this was all too close for comfort and he responded with a huge 73-3½ (22.34).
Muñoz shocked the most out of the 6 throwers in the final round. He blasted a 72-1 (21.97) which held up for silver, pushing Walsh off the podium. When the throwing was done, Crouser, careful of his elbow, declined his final toss.
“Every championship has a different aspect to it but this one is the one I am most proud of,” said the winner. “I really didn’t know what kind of shape I was in. It was kind of a fake it till you make it. There has been a lot of doubt to be honest. We left one of the best in the world at home so I felt like I owed it to Joe [Kovacs] to come out here and execute.”
MEN’S SHOT RESULTS
FINAL (September 13)
1. Ryan Crouser (US) 73-3½ (22.34)
(70-3, 72-1¾, 71-6, f, 73-3½, p) (21.41, 21.99, 21.79, f, 22.34, p);
2. Uziel Muñoz (Mex) 72-1 (21.97) NR
(67-6¼, 69-10¼, f, 70-6½, 70-5¼, 72-1) (20.58, 21.29, f, 21.50, 21.47, 21.97);
3. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 71-11¾ (21.94)
(69-9, 71-7½, f, 70-10, 71-11¾, 69-0) (21.26, 21.83, f, 21.59, 21.94, 21.03);
4. Tom Walsh (NZ) 71-11¾ (21.94)
(70-9¾, f, 67-11¾, 69-6¼, 71-11¾, 69-2) (21.58, f, 20.72, 21.19, 21.94, 21.08);
5. Chuk Enekwechi (Ngr) 70-7¼ (21.52)
(68-7, f, 67-6¾, 70-¼, f, 70-7¼) (20.90, f, 20.59, 21.34, f, 21.52);
6. Tripp Piperi (US) 70-6½ (21.50)
(69-¾, 69-6¾, 70-6½, 68-10½, f, f) (21.05, 21.20, 21.50, 20.99, f, f);
7. Josh Awotunde (US) 69-4¼ (21.14)
(64-11¼, 69-4¼, f, 62-7¾, 69-3¼) (19.79, 21.14, f, 19.09, 21.11);
8. Scott Lincoln (GB) 68-10¾ (21.00)
(67-2¼, 68-10¾, f, 67-9¾, 66-5) (20.48, 21.00, f, 20.67, 20.24);
9. Konrad Bukowiecki (Pol) 67-9½ (20.66)
(66-3¼, 67-0, 67-8¾, 67-9½) (20.20, 20.42, 20.64, 20.66);
10. Marcus Thomsen (Nor) 67-4¼ (20.53)
(f, f, 66-11½, 67-4¼) (f, f, 20.41, 20.53);
11. Wictor Petersson (Swe) 66-9¼ (20.35)
(65-7, 66-9¼, 66-8) (19.99, 20.35, 20.32);
12. Tomáš Staněk (CzR) 65-4 (19.91)
(f, 64-5, 65-4) (f, 19.63, 19.91).
| * = progression of the leading throw; ¶ = athlete’s best of the day | |||
| first 3 rounds | |||
| Piperi | 21.05* | 21.20 | 21.50¶ |
| Walsh | 21.58* | f | 20.72 |
| Crouser | 21.41 | 21.99* | 21.79 |
| Fabbri | 21.26 | 21.83 | f |
| Petersson | 19.99 | 20.35 | 20.32 |
| Enekwechi | 20.90 | f | 20.59 |
| Lincoln | 20.48 | 21.00¶ | f |
| Awotunde | 19.79 | 21.14¶ | f |
| Stanek | f | 19.63 | 19.91 |
| Muñoz | 20.58 | 21.29 | f |
| Bukowiecki | 20.20 | 20.42 | 20.64 |
| Thomsen | f | f | 20.41 |
| round 4 | |||
| Thomsen | 20.53 | ||
| Bukowiecki | 20.66 | ||
| Enekwechi | 21.34 | ||
| Lincoln | 20.67 | ||
| Awotunde | 19.09 | ||
| Muñoz | 21.50 | ||
| Piperi | 20.99 | ||
| Walsh | 21.19 | ||
| Fabbri | 21.59 | ||
| Crouser | f | ||
| round 5 | |||
| Enekwechi | f | ||
| Lincoln | 20.24 | ||
| Awotunde | 21.11 | ||
| Muñoz | 21.47 | ||
| Piperi | f | ||
| Walsh | 21.94¶ | ||
| Fabbri | 21.94¶ | ||
| Crouser | 22.34¶* | ||
| last round | |||
| Enekwechi | 21.52¶ | ||
| Piperi | f | ||
| Muñoz | 21.97¶ | ||
| Walsh | 21.08 | ||
| Fabbri | 21.03 | ||
| Crouser | p | ||
QUALIFYING (September 13; auto-qualifier 70-½/21.35)
Qualifiers: Walsh 71-4 (21.74); Piperi 70-5¼ (21.47); Crouser 70-1½ (21.37); Petersson 69-4¼ (21.14); Lincoln 68-10¾ (21.00); Fabbri 68-8¾ (20.95); Enekwechi 68-4¼ (20.83); Awotunde 68-2¼ (20.78); Muñoz 68-1¾ (20.77); Staněk 67-9¾ (20.67); Thomsen 67-2¼ (20.48); Bukowiecki 66-10½ (20.38);
Non-Qualifiers: Andrei Toader (Rom) 66-10½ (20.38), Nick Ponzio (Ita) 66-8¾ (20.34), Nick Palmer (NZ) & Armin Sinančević (Ser) 66-2½ (20.18), Jialiang Xing (Chn) & Haochen Zhang (Chn) 65-5 (19.94), Zane Weir (Ita) 65-3¼ (19.89), Mohammad Reza Tayebi (Irn) 65-1½ (19.85), Willian Dourado (Bra) & Payton Otterdahl (US) 64-10¾ (19.78), Tsanko Arnaudov (Por) 64-3¼ (19.59), Hamza Mohamed (Egy) 63-11½ (19.49), Giorgi Mujaridze (Geo) 63-5½ (19.34), Aiden Smith (SA) 63-4¾ (19.32), Juan C. Vázquez (Cub) 63-¼ (19.21), Eric Favors (Ire) 62-11½ (19.19), Jesper Arbinge (Swe) 62-5¼ (19.03), Chris Van Niekerk (SA) 61-8½ (18.81), Ali Peker (Tur) 60-3 (18.36), Mohamed Daouda Tolo (Sau) 59-4 (18.08);… 3f—Artem Levchenko (Ukr), Djimon Gumbs (BVI), Mesud Pezer (Bos).
