What makes Ryan Crouser — shot put’s world-beating giant — so good? Premium

The 30-year-old American recently broke his own world record, adding another honour to a list that includes two Olympic gold medals and a world title

Ryan Crouser launched the farthest shot put throw in history last Saturday. 

The double Olympic champion rewrote his own world record, scripting a new mark of 23.38 metres at the Simplot Games in Idaho. The throw, at the indoor meet, beat his previous world record of 23.37m, set outdoors at the US Olympic Trials in Oregon in 2021, as well as his world indoor best of 22.82m, achieved earlier that year in Arkansas.

Last Saturday’s record throw comes a year after Crouser had a throw of an identical distance annulled. He thought he had broken his record by a centimetre last January at the Millrose Games but a faulty laser measurement device meant that the competition was cancelled.

Despite his dominance — the reigning world champion has registered eight of the 12 best marks in shot put history — Crouser was not expecting the record.

“The biggest surprise of my career so far,” he wrote on social media. “Wasn’t expecting a 23.38m today...Training this week was a bit frustrating, just struggling with feeling flat and a bit under the weather. Decided to take Thursday and Friday off. I’d never taken two rest days in a row before a meet until today, but figured it was better than overtraining. All I can say is that if things are rough, try to stay positive and you might surprise yourself!”

Crouser’s success, however, comes as no surprise — for, both nature and nurture contributed to an early immersion in sport. He was brought up in a family deeply embedded in athletics, especially in the throwing events. His father Mitch was an alternate on the discus team at the 1984 Los Angeles Games while his uncle Brian was a two-time Olympian in the javelin and cousin Sam represented the United States in the javelin at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

It was in grandfather Larry’s backyard that young Ryan attempted his first toss with the heavy metal ball that would shape his life. His childhood throws were unpredictable — once, he lobbed the shot through the top of the garden shed and had to go back the next day and replace the roof.