No backing off from banged-up Ryan Crouser at Olympic trials: ‘I got to put on a show as best I can’

Published 6:49 pm Monday, June 24, 2024

EUGENE — Ryan Crouser said there was consideration to take a geared-down route Saturday night at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Do what it takes to make the U.S. Olympic team in the shot put. Save your best for six weeks from now in Paris. Age and a recent run of injuries made that a possibility.

Then the 31-year-old Crouser stepped into the ring Saturday night at Hayward Field. Those thoughts disappeared.

Inspired by the rhythmic clap from a Hayward crowd of 11,852, Crouser let loose with a throw of more than 73 feet.

Crouser, who on Friday threw for the first time competitively since March, was just getting started. He posted four of the top five throws Saturday, easily winning the shot final with a best throw of 74 feet, 11¼ inches.

Joe Kovacs finished second at 73-7¼, while Payton Otterdahl snagged the third Olympic berth at 73-0½. This is the same contingent that went to Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics, where Crouser out-dueled Kovacs to win gold.

Few get as inspired by Hayward’s magic as Crouser, the Barlow High grad who has won two Olympic gold medals. Among his Hayward conquests are a world championships title and three trials golds.

Crouser said there was a thought about passing throws during the later rounds. But that first throw was “relatively pain free,” and Crouser felt like he was learning something with each throw.

“I mean, you get out there and you have a game plan of, I’m going to take it easy and make the team. But you get in front of thousands of people cheering and clapping for the shot. It’s like, I got to put on a show as best I can,” Crouser said.

Crouser admitted the runup was “stressful” to this weekend after battling injuries during the past 12 weeks.

“I didn’t know what kind of shape I was in. I’ve had two hard throwing sessions in the last two weeks. One went really bad and the other only like, OK,” Crouser said. “You never want to go into an Olympic trials not knowing what kind of shape you’re in. But that was the kind of cards I was dealt.”

Crouser has won plenty of gold and set world records at Hayward. But after all he’s gone through in 2024, “I can honestly say this one’s probably the best,” Crouser said. “This had much more of a sigh of relief. Kind of proving to myself that I’ve still got it.”

No one knows how to finish off a performance at Hayward like Crouser, either. Holding a U.S. flag and a bouquet of flowers, Crouser spent at least an hour walking around the track’s perimeter, shaking spectators’ hands, signing autographs, taking selfies.

“To see field events get the love out here was really awesome,” Crouser said. “I took an hour-plus victory lap. I tried to get everybody. I think I got just about everybody that stayed.”

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