Men Shot Put Athletics XXII Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 2020 - Tuesday, 3rd August and Thursday, 5th August - Gold Medal: Ryan Crouser, USA United States
Venue: New National Stadium, Tokyo. Quota: 32 competitors from 24 nations. Qualifying. Qualifiyng Standard: 66.00m. Qualification. Start 11:06 T 32°C H 58% Few Clouds. Finish 12:19 T 32°C H 58% Few Clouds.
World record: Ryan Crouser (USA) 23.37m Eugene, OR, United States 18th June 2021
Olympic record: Ryan Crouser (USA)22.52m Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 18th August 2016
Haratyk, Bukowiecki, Bertemes and Staněk didn't make the final. On his first attempt of the final, Crouser threw 22.83 metres to improve upon his own Olympic Record from Rio. Romani threw 21.88 metres to take second for a few moments until Kovacs threw 22.19 metres. Crouser's second round throw improved the Olympic Record again, 22.93 metres. Only two other men had ever thrown that far, over 30 years before. Walsh got into the mix with 22.17 metres. After the throwers were re-ordered, Kovacs threw 22.65 metres to solidify his hold on silver. That looked significant because on his final attempt, Walsh dropped a 22.47 metres, better than Kovacs' four other throws. Kovacs answered with a 22.60 metres, not enough to catch Crouser. So with gold assured, Crouser wound up for one more throw, 23.30m (76ft 5+1⁄4in) the second farthest throw in history, his third Olympic Record of the series and just 7 centimetres short of his month-old world record. Every one of Crouser's 6 throw series was farther than all but ten men have ever thrown. Crouser joined Ralph Rose (1904 & 1908), Parry O'Brien (1952 & 1956) (also Americans) and Tomasz Majewski of Poland (2008 & 2012), as the only men to defend their Olympic title in the shot put. For the first time in Olympic history the podium was a repeat of the previous Games, with Kovacs silver and Walsh bronze.