By Brett Taylor
PALO ALTO, Calif. — As Darlan Romani released the ball in the fifth round of shot put in the 2019 Prefontaine Classic, he had no idea how far it had gone. But the crowd did.
When the ball landed, the crowd oohed and aahhed. Romani, the world’s fourth best shot putter, broke the facility, South American, Pre Classic and Diamond League records with a winning throw of 74 feet, 2 ¼ inches. Ryan Crouser finished in second place with a throw of 72 feet, 9 inches, and Tomas Walsh took third with 71 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
“We are all trying to get better,” Romani said through a translator. “We are all here to help one another, but today was my day.”
Romani began his career in shot put in the outskirts of Brazil in 2005, but since 2017, he has been breaking the South American record in the shot put left and right. The last time Romani broke the record was back in 2018 when he threw 72 feet, 2 ¼ inches, beating his own previous record that he set back in 2017.
Sunday was no different.
Romani got things started on his initial throw, setting the leading standard for the other competitors with a throw of 71 feet, barely staying ahead of Walsh’s first throw at 70 feet, 11 ¾ inches. But Crouser quickly took the lead with a first throw at 72 feet, 9 inches, which turned out to be his best throw of the day.
Five shot putters scratched during their second attempt, including Crouser, but Romani continued to inch closer to the lead with a throw at 71 feet, 11 inches. From there on, it was all Romani.
On his third, fourth and fifth throws, Romani was a record-breaking machine. He broke the facility and South American records on his third throw, the Pre Classic record on his fourth and the Diamond League record on his fifth.
“There are no words to describe what I’m feeling,” Romani said through a translator.
The last time that Romani, Walsh and Crouser each faced off against one another was on May 3, when the three of them went 1-2-3 at the Doha Diamond League event, with Crouser and Walsh ahead of Romani.
“He had an unbelievable day,” said Crouser. “He’s been throwing far for a long time, and he is always really consistent. And anytime you have someone who is consistent like that it’s expected. But eventually you are going have some kind of breakthrough, and he definitely did today.”
Now that the Pre Classic is done, Romani will get prepared for the world championships in Doha, Qatar, coming up in a few months. But until that time, Romani will need to figure out how he is going to celebrate this win first.
“Nothing, we didn’t plan anything,” Romani said through a translator, laughing. “But we are going to start planning something right now.”
