TOKYO — Ryan Crouser of the USA is golden again. He repeated as Olympic champion in the men's shot put equaling what he did in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. He also set an Olympic record in the process. Not once. Not twice. But three times.
On a sweltering day at the Olympic stadium, the big man put on a big performance. The 6-foot-7 inch, 320-pound Crouser broke the Olympic record three times in his six throws. And he saved the best for last.
His final throw of 23.30 meters was a little shy of the world record 23.37 he set at the U.S. Track and Field trials in Oregon, in June. But he still called it the best throw of his life. "It was a lot easier to throw 23.37 close to home. It's really, really difficult to perform on a stage like this," Crouser said afterwards.
American Joe Kovacs won the silver medal, which he also won at the 2016 Olympics. Tom Walsh of New Zealand won the bronze, duplicating his performance in Rio.
Quoting historian Bill Mallon, USA Track and Field said, "it is the first time in Olympic track and field history that the podium positions have been repeated."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
