World record holder Ryan Crouser said his unprecedented third straight Olympic shot put title on Saturday “definitely means the most” of the trio.
The 31-year-old American, who previously won at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, managed a season’s record 22.90m in his third attempt to win at the Stade de France.
Crouser’s American team-mate Joe Kovacs grabbed silver with his sixth and final attempt of 22.15m – the third time he finished second to his compatriot – and Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell took bronze despite registering the same distance.
Other athletes who have won two consecutive shot put golds are the American pair Ralph Rose (1904, 1908), Parry O’Brien (1952, 1956) and Poland’s Tomasz Majewski (2008, 2012).
But Crouser’s win – the 20th time an American has won the event in 30 Olympics – puts him in a different class.
“I think it definitely means the most of all,” Crouser said.
“I mean how Tokyo, fresh off the world record, felt like it was mine to lose.
“I’m number three on the performance list tonight, so that allowed me to play a little bit faster and more relaxed.
“I was the new kid on the block in Rio, first year pro, so that one, I don’t want to say it was luck, but it was definitely the least appreciated for me.
“So this is definitely the sweetest victory of all, overcoming the question of whether I would be able to get to this point again.
Crouser’s win is all the more remarkable considering he has been plagued by injuries this season.
He won the world indoor title in Glasgow in March but has since suffered two debilitating elbow injuries on either side, tearing his pectoral muscle.
However, Crouser has previously shown that injuries hardly affect his ability, winning last year’s world title just weeks after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis.
“So this year there’s just injuries, pinched ulnar nerve and a torn hamstring, and then the nerve issue again, which made it all the sweeter to appreciate it more.”
Crouser, who will celebrate by heading out with his family, who are in Paris to share his victory, said he is likely to end his career by going for a fourth title in Los Angeles in 2028.
“The perfect ending for me would be LA 2028, as an American athlete retiring and hanging up his boots on home soil,” said Crouser, who had yet to don his signature stetson for the celebration.
LA, he said, “would be the first and only Olympics of my career in the US.”
As for Kovacs, at thirty-five, this is probably the two-time world champion’s final Olympic gold medal win, but he had no regrets. “It’s a big rivalry and I don’t think I pushed him today, but I think with that last throw I kind of made sure I didn’t let those other guys sneak up there.
