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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.
“Throwing a 16-pound ball is not easy on the body,” Crouser said. “Throwing it as hard as you can, as far as you can beats you up.
“Being Olympic champ for three consecutive is kind of a testament to the total dedication and hard work that has gone into it. Just focusing and realizing that it is a 365-day-a-year job.”
Crouser’s compatriot Joe Kovacs won silver and Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell took bronze.
The world record-holder battled with 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 self-doubt, the injuries that went into this makes me appreciate it all the more,” Crouser said.
He added, his support system helped him get through those feelings of uncertainty. The mere presence of some of his loved ones at the Games has helped, too, he said.
“I’m so lucky to have my family here. I haven’t seen them,” Crouser said. “They’ve been running around Paris, having all the fun. I’ve been training and hanging out in the [Olympic] Village just killing time and waiting to compete.
“They’ve been taking cooking classes, they’ve been seeing the Eiffel Tower. So I’m a little jealous. I’ve got some catching up to do on the fun.”
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.
Crouser, twice a world champion, 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.
He urged on the crowd before making his second attempt and pumped his fist after throwing 22.69 and the fans erupted as he improved that mark with third throw.
Rain began to spit…
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