Crouser Produces Lifetime Best Series, Dedicates Second Olympic Win To His Grandfather

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The ability of Ryan Crouser to keep topping himself with consistency and greatest-of-all-time excellence achieved new heights Thursday morning in Tokyo. 

Crouser became the first repeat U.S. champion in the shot put since Parry O'Brien in 1952 and 1956 by launching all six of his throws beyond his 2016 Olympic record mark of 73-10.75 (22.52m) -- including a sixth-attempt exclamation point that was the second-longest throw in history 76-5.50 (23.30m).

He joined 2008 and 2012 champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland, along with O'Brien and fellow American Ralph Rose in 1904 and 1908 as the only athletes to repeat as Olympic men's shot put gold medalist.  

Five of Crouser's throws went farther than silver medalist Joe Kovacs' best 74-3.75 (22.65m) and his continued domination of the event was a bright spot for a U.S. men's team that has repeatedly come up short in these Games. 

Crouser, Kovacs and New Zealand's Tom Walsh, who took third at 73-8.75 (22.47m), finished in the same order as 2016 -- a podium repeat that has never been seen before at the Olympic Games in either gender in any individual event. 

There was no complacency from Crouser, who smashed the world record at the U.S. Trials in June with 76-8.25 (23.37m). He competed with focus and emotion and dedicated his victory to his grandfather, Larry Crouser, who died July 23. 

It was Larry Crouser, a Korean War veteran, who became the patriach of a family famous for throwing events. 

Ryan and his cousins Sam and Haley learned to throw in their grandpa's backyard, where stones embedded into the lawn marked their early PR javelin marks. Eventually all three would become national high school record holders. 

The elder Crouser was there to see Ryan break the world record in June at Hayward Field. And he lived long enough to be honored by having a U.S. flag flown over the Pentagon, commemorating Larry's military service and Ryan's world record. 

On his first attempt of the competition, with sweltering temperatures nearly 100 degrees, Crouser produced a massive mark of 74-11 (22.83m) that set the bar so high only Kovacs and Walsh had any realistic chance of contending for the win. Then he threw 75-2.75 (22.93m), which is beyond the PRs of both Kovacs 75-2 (22.91m) and Walsh 75-1.75 (22.90m), both achieved at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

The only difficulty Crouser had was with a blue ballcap that kept flying off his head when he threw. 

In the sixth round, without the hat and the gold already secured, he cut loose with a throw that added an astonishing two and a half feet to his 2016 Olympic Games record. 

He also has 141 career marks over 22 meters, including 36 this year (28 outdoors).

He joins fellow Oregon native Ashton Eaton as a repeat Olympic gold medalist. 

Crouser salvaged what was an otherwise disappointing night for the U.S. men. 

Grant Holloway, the prohibitive favorite in the men's 110-meter hurdles, was unable to close the last 15 meters of the finals and finished with silver as Jamaica's Hansle Parchment latched onto a surprise gold in 13.04. Holloway was timed in 13.09 and teammate Devon Allen was fourth in 13.14.

In the triple jump, Will Claye's opportunity to win gold after two consecutive silvers never got far enough off the ground. The 30-year-old jumper got a season's best 57-2.75 (17.44m) but it put him outside the medals in fourth place. 

Portugal's Pedro Pablo Pichardo jumped a national record 59 feet (17.98m) in the third round to win the gold. 

Disaster struck the U.S. again in the men's 4x100 relay as a botched exhange between Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker slowed the team in the prelims to sixth in its heat. The U.S. hasn't made the Olympic podium in the 4x100 relay since 2004, being disqualified in the past two finals before not advancing Thursday. 

The reaction and disappointment was swift on that one.