The men’s shot put podium in Eugene, Oregon was striped red, white and blue when Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde took gold, silver and bronze, respectively. A world championship gold has been eluding Crouser for years, but he was finally able to inch out his teammate to capture the title.
Crouser, an Oregon native, has a long list of throwing accolades, but has had to battle against Kovacs on multiple occasions and has come up short; as short as one centimeter, to be exact. In the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Crouser ended with a silver behind Kovacs who beat him by less than an inch.
On Sunday, it looked as if Crouser would end up in the same situation he did three years ago. Heading into the final round of throws, Kovacs was in first place with a distance of 75 feet, 1.25 inches. Perhaps it was the Boring, Oregon native’s home crowd or possibly the sheer will of bringing that gold home, but Crouser launched a 75 feet, 3.25 inches throw to take the lead and no one, not even Kovacs, was able to surpass his mark. Josh Awotunde rounded out the finals with a 73 feet, 1.75 inches throw, a personal best for him.
This finish is historic for not only the United States, but for a track and field world championship in general. No country has ever swept the shot put in the history of the World Championships.
The men sweeping the podium isn’t the only historic finish for the United States throws team. For the first time ever, a U.S. woman topped the podium when Chase Ealey finished first with a throw of 20.49 meters. Ealey’s finish denied China’s Gong Lijiao her third consecutive world gold.
Ealey’s winning throw came out in the first round and proved to be untouchable for the remainder of the competition.
In an interview following the finals, Ealey said, “I was just trying to set the tone but I felt like I could have thrown further if need be,” she told Reuters. “It was one of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever experienced in my life. I don’t think I can think of a better moment.”
With several days left in the competition, there are plenty of opportunities for the United States to improve upon their medal count. As it stands, the U.S. has 14 medals with only three days of competition completed.
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