HIS VICTORY WASN’T pretty, but Ryan Crouser’s fans will let it slide.
Crouser won his sixth outdoor national title with a 75-0 (22.86) effort on his final throw, improving on his toss of 74-10½ (22.82) from the first round.
The WR holder and reigning world and Olympic champion, who has pioneered the “Crouser Slide” technique, was happy with his distance, but not his execution.
“The first round was ugly, and then I really tried to be cute technically and really hit positions and wasn’t aggressive,” Crouser said. “And then round 6 it was like, ‘Well, this isn’t working. I’m just going to smash one and throw all the technique out the window.’ And it was a horrible throw, but it still went 75ft.’”
Yelling “Come on,” the Oregon native tossed the ball some 2½ft (76cm) farther than his top competitor, allowing himself a fist pump and a thumbs-up.
Josh Awotunde, the ’22 WC bronze medalist, uncorked a season-best 72-6¼ (22.10) for 2nd on his fourth attempt, pulling himself up from 6th. After a lackluster early season, Awotunde now finds himself at No. 5 on the yearly world list.
Olympian Payton Otterdahl, who had been in 2nd through three rounds, threw a PR 72-5¾ (22.09) for 3rd.
Two-time world champ and Oregon22 silver medalist Joe Kovacs made his fifth straight outdoor world team by placing 4th. The father of twins performed best on his second attempt, going 71-10¼ (21.90), well off his 74-5½ (22.69) from April, No. 2 on the year list.
Tripp Piperi, who made the World team last year and finished in 8th, just missed a trip to Budapest. He placed 5th with a throw of 70-5 ¾ (21.48) in the third round.
Wild Card holder Crouser, who blasted his WR 77-3¾ (23.56) at the LA GP in May, had to make a tough decision in his training pattern with Nationals sandwiched between trips to European meets.
“I decided to train heavy this week since I had the bye and be a little more aggressive in the weight room,” he said. “So I just felt a little banged up, didn’t feel as good physically, and that kind of showed up technically as well.”
Still, three of his four legal throws would have won the competition.
“I like having the bye,” he continued. “It felt like another comp instead of having that high pressure situation that usually accompanies a U.S. championship.”
And he knows that the pressure will return at Worlds, where the US will be seeking a repeat of its sweep from ’22.
“I know that there’s more distance there,” Crouser said. “That’s what keeps me motivated, that pursuit to try to get better and continue to improve on my personal best.”
MEN’S SHOT RESULTS
(July 09)
1. Ryan Crouser (Nike) 75-0 (22.86)
(74-10½, f, f, 73-5¼, 72-3, 75-0) (22.82, f, f, 22.38, 22.02, 22.86);
2. Josh Awotunde (Shore) 72-6¼ (22.10)
(67-5½, 69-11, 69-11½, 72-6¼, 71-8, 71-8¼) (20.56, 21.31, 21.32, 22.10, 21.84, 21.85);
3. Payton Otterdahl (unat) 72-5¾ (22.09) PR
(71-11¾, 72-5¾, 71-11½, f, 69-9¾, f) (21.94, 22.09, 21.93, f, 21.28, f);
4. Joe Kovacs (Nike) 71-10¼ (21.90)
(69-8, 71-10¼, f, 70-7¼, 70-2½, 71-3½) (21.23, 21.90, f, 21.52, 21.40, 21.73);
5. Tripp Piperi (unat) 70-5¾ (21.48)
(f, 68-10, 70-5¾, 69-10¾, f, 70-½) (f, 20.98, 21.48, 21.30, f, 21.35);
6. Jordan Geist (Az) 70-3½ (21.42)
(66-7, 68-6½, f, 70-3½, 68-7, 68-7) (20.29, 20.89, f, 21.42, 20.90, 20.90);
7. Darrell Hill (unat) 70-1¾ (21.38)
(65-7½, 70-1¾, 69-9½, f, 67-4¼, 69-2¾) (20.00, 21.38, 21.27, f, 20.53, 21.10);
8. Roger Steen (Vel) 69-3½ (21.12)
(67-8¼, 67-6¼, 68-3¼, 69-3½, f, 69-2½) (20.63, 20.58, 20.81, 21.12, f, 21.09);
9. Joshua Sobota (Ky) 66-8¾ (20.34); 10. John Meyer (LSU) 65-4¾ (19.93); 11. Jonah Wilson (Nb) 65-4¼ (19.92); 12. Maxwell Otterdahl (Nb) 64-3¾ (19.60); 13. T’Mond Johnson (GarS) 64-1¾ (19.55); 14. Jordan West (Ar) 63-9 (19.43); 15. Jason Swarens (Wi) 63-¾ (19.22); 16. Nikolas Curtiss (unat) 62-8¾ (19.12).