American Olympic champion Ryan Crouser smashes own shot put world record

LOS ANGELES – Olympic and world shot put champion Ryan Crouser sensationally obliterated his own world record at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday.

The American star heaved a mammoth 23.56m throw at Drake Stadium to smash his previous mark of 23.37m set at the US Olympic trials in Eugene in 2021.

Crouser, the 2016 and 2020 Olympic gold medallist and reigning world champion, had two earlier throws that broke the 23m barrier.

But the 30-year-old brought the house down with a fourth throw of 23.56m that improved his own record by a whopping 19cm.

He said afterwards that his record was the result of a new throwing technique he has developed this year involving a “step across” – and warned he believes he can throw further.

“I’m really excited,” the 2.04m, 145kg man-mountain said. “I felt like I have a ton of power and I caught a big one, but there’s still a lot more which is really exciting because I haven’t been throwing hard in training.

“I’ve been at 75 per cent intensity, working on some technical stuff. Some of it stuck and some of it still needs improvement, so I’m really, really excited for this as a stepping stone going forward.”

Although he has dominated shot putting for much of the past decade, Crouser said he is constantly innovating his technique.

“I’m always competing against myself whether it was in high school or in college – I’ve always felt like my goal is to throw a personal best.

“It’s such a special feeling to say, ‘Today I’m the best I’ve ever been’. That’s what continues to push me to be better.”

Crouser’s performance was the undeniable highlight of a high-calibre meeting that is part of a strategic move by USA Track and Field to stage more top-tier events on US soil.

However, a much-anticipated women’s 100m fell flat when American sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson, fellow US sprinter Aleia Hobbs and the Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou all scratched from the final.

In the men’s 100m, 2019 world champion Christian Coleman was surprisingly beaten into third place behind Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, who won in 9.89 seconds, with American Cravont Charleston second in 9.91sec.

In the men’s pole vault, Sweden’s Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis set a world-leading jump of 5.91m, ahead of Sam Kendricks and Chris Nilsen.

There was a world-leading time, too, in the women’s 100m hurdles, where Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn stormed to victory in 12.31sec ahead of former world-record holder Keni Harrison, second in 12.35sec. AFP