Three feet short of a full length tennis court is how far world record holder Ryan Crouser threw the shot put Saturday afternoon in Hayward Field at the Prefontaine classic. The Boring, Oregon, native won with a throw of 75 feet, 6 1/4 inches, beating longtime rival Joe Kovacs, who threw 73 feet, 9 1/2 inches and finished second.
Crouser produced his best throw off a static throw. Instead of one fluid motion into the throw, Crouser holds his windup, which to most spectators looks like a herky-jerky motion. With the wind blowing sideways and intermediate rain showers, the conditions in the ring were less than ideal. A static throw removes some of the area for mistakes while giving up some momentum behind your throw.
“I wasn’t expecting to do that from a static position because my best static throw ever was a 75-1 while qualifying for the Olympic trials last year,” Crouser said.
As the world record holder in shot put, Crouser is looking for any way to adjust his training to keep pushing the boundaries for what is possible in shot put.
“To throw a season best static under a heavier load without taper is a really good indicator of where I can be six to eight weeks from now.” Crouser said. “I’m super excited.”
The two-time Olympic champion returns to Hayward in June for the U.S. nationals and in July for the world championships, where he hopes to earn his first world title. Crouser came in second in Doha, the last world track and field championships, by one centimeter to Kovacs.
“The preparation is where you win meets,” Crouser said. “In the next 6-7 weeks it’ll be all about preparing myself for the world championships.”
