Every year we're talking about the records being broken, and I think there's more to come.' 'In Tokyo, there are going to be some fireworks. 'There are three or four guys capable of doing that,' Kovacs said. 'I think I was celebrating on that one almost before it left my hand.'Īmong those congratulating him were world champion Joe Kovacs, who finished second, and Payton Otterdahl, who earned the third spot. 'Finally timed that one up,' said Crouser, who grew up in Oregon, went to college at Texas and now serves as a volunteer coach at Arkansas. When the mark came up on the board, confirming that he had broken one of the longest-standing records in the books, he was mobbed by his competitors near the ring. When the shot landed, far beyond where any other mark had been made, a collective gasp came from the quarter-filled stands.Ībout a half-minute passed while officials checked the distance. Olympic track and field trialsĮven before the fourth of his six tries on a mild, sunshiny evening had plunked into the dirt, Crouser was lifting his arms to celebrate.

So the record held - but for only a few more hours.

'I thought, 'I don't know, if I throw a world record in prelims, I won't have shoes for the final. 'But they take your shoes if you break the world record,' Crouser said of World Athletics, which tests all shoes involved in a record. Though he had brought a new pair to Eugene for the trials, he opted for a more broken-in pair because the shot put ring at newly remodeled Hayward Field was 'fast.' What kept him from going for it was his shoes. Earlier Friday, during qualifying, Crouser heaved 75-2½ (22.92) to set the American Olympic trials record.Ĭrouser was feeling so good in the preliminary round that he thought a world record was possible right then and there. Earlier this year, Crouser topped Barnes' indoor record. Virtually everyone in this tightly knit group of throwers knew the record of 75-10¼ (23.12) held by Randy Barnes since May 20, 1990, was in jeopardy. 'I knew it's been a possibility or potential to do it since 2017.' Ryan Crouser broke the shot put world record set by American Randy Barnes, whose mark of 75 feet, 10 1/4 inches, set on May 20, 1990, was one of the oldest in the record books. 'There were so many times that I was throwing a six-pound shot out behind the middle school, throwing by myself, and let it go and put my hands over my head and be like, 'Oh, new world record!'' Crouser said. Olympic Trials, he heaved the massive metal sphere 76 feet, 8¼ inches (23.37 meters) to put his name in the record book and punch his ticket for Tokyo, where he will have a chance to defend his Olympic title next month. The 28-year-old who built a training ring at his home in Arkansas to stay on point during the coronavirus pandemic shattered a shot put world record Friday night that was set 2½ years before he was born. When Ryan Crouser broke it, 'it felt like it was a huge weight lifted.'

Olympic discus weight