PARIS — American Ryan Crouser became the first man to three-peat in the Olympic shot put on Saturday, adding another gold medal to his packed trophy cabinet with a mighty throw of 22.90 meters.
His compatriot Joe Kovacs won silver and Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell took bronze.
Crouser, the world record holder, battled a nerve issue in his elbow this year but had no issues at the Stade de France as he produced his best throw of the season on his third attempt and clapped with satisfaction.
The win underlined the United States’ total dominance of the event, as they have now won 20 men’s Olympic shot put gold medals. The next-closest country is Poland with three.
A two-time world champion, Crouser clapped his hands and cheered as he posted 22.64 on his opening throw that would have been good enough to get him to the top of the podium.
Crouser, 31, urged on the crowd before making his second attempt and pumped his fist after throwing 22.69. The fans erupted as he improved that mark with the third throw to follow up his gold medals in Rio and Tokyo.
Rain began to spit down midway through the competition and several competitors slipped, including Crouser, who had fouls on his next two attempts and did not make a sixth throw, having locked up the gold.
Kovacs was fourth in the standings when he got onto the podium in dramatic fashion, heaving the shot 22.15 on his final attempt.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
