Ryan Crouser Honors Late Grandpa with Historic Olympic Shot Put Three-Peat

Not even an elbow injury was enough to stop Ryan Crouser in Paris.

SAINT-DENIS, France — Leading into the Paris Games, shot putter Ryan Crouser wasn’t sure his aching elbow would hold up enough for him to compete, let alone defend his title.

Crouser became the first three-time Olympic winner in the men’s shot put Saturday night in the rain. His American teammate, Joe Kovacs, finished with silver for a third straight Olympics, while Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica took bronze.

Coming out of the competition, Crouser is already thinking ahead to Los Angeles in four years and the possibility of a four-peat. He’s not ready to set down that shot put just yet.

“This definitely was the sweetest victory of all of them,” the 31-year-old Crouser said. “Just overcoming the questions if I would be able to get to this point again.”

Crouser has dealt with one injury after another since aggravating the ulnar nerve of his elbow at world indoors in March. He tore his pectoral muscle while bench-pressing in April. His nerve issue resurfaced, leading to an elbow procedure in the spring where the doctor lifted the nerve out of the ulnar groove with a saline solution.

These injuries forced him to find alternative ways to train. He rarely threw on back-to-back days leading up to Paris, yet he had to do so during the competition with prelims on Friday and the final on Saturday.

He entered the competition with personality, even posing as “The Thinker” during his announcement.

His first attempt went 22.64 meters, despite uncertainty about his elbow.

His longest throw hit 22.90 meters. While not threatening his world (23.56) or Olympic (23.30) records, this mark was deeply meaningful to him.

“There’s just overcoming self-doubt — can I get back to the level that I needed to be at to be competitive against these guys?” said Crouser. Last summer, he was diagnosed with blood clots before winning at worlds. “Shot is not an easy event. Right now, the past eight years have been the golden era of shot put.”

Kovacs understands this well.

He’s been the Olympic runner-up three times now. This silver, however, holds special pride. On his last attempt, he went from out of medal range to silver with a toss of 21.15 meters. Kovacs bumped Campbell to bronze and pushed American teammate Payton Otterdahl off the podium.

“I’m never happy with three silvers, but at the end of the day, I’m going to be happy about that last throw,” Kovacs said.

Crouser admired Kovacs’ effort.

“In that sixth round, in the rain, to come from outside the medals to secure his third Olympic silver was the most impressive throw I’ve seen (Kovacs) take,” Crouser said. “He had to dig deep for that one.”

Crouser now has the most Olympic gold medals in men’s shot put, breaking a tie with Americans Parry O’Brien and Ralph Rose, along with Poland’s Tomasz Majewski.

Before the Tokyo Games, Crouser lost his grandfather, Larry Crouser, whose backyard was where he first threw the shot put. He held up a sign after winning that read, “Grandpa, We did it, 2020 Olympic Champion!”

Grandpa was on his mind once again.

“I felt like once again he was watching over me tonight,” Crouser said. “I’m lucky enough and blessed enough to have my family here. Throwing is such a special thing for the whole family. It’s something that we can unite over and come together over.”

Possibly again in four years.