Shot Put, Men

At Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the podium had been Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs with gold and silver, and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh with bronze. This was the first time in Olympic history that the podium had been identical at two consecutive Olympics, in any individual event in any sport. All three were considered among the favorites, with Crouser, the world record holder and 2022 and 2023 World Champion, pipped for gold. Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri had come to the fore in 2024, bettering 22 metres at all of his 2024 meets, beating the Italian record with 22.95 in May and winning the European Championship in June with 22.45. He was clearly expected to challenge for a medal.

All the favorites made the final, but Walsh would fail to record a legal mark. Crouser opened with 22.64 metres and that decided the gold medal, although he would improve in rounds two and three with 22.69 and 22.90 metres. As rain began to fall, Crouser had no marks in rounds four and five and skipped his final throw as he became the first athlete to three-peat in the men’s shot put.

Jamaica’s surprising Rajindra Campbell moved into second place in round two with a mark of 22.15 metres. Kovacs started slowly and was only in fourth place after five rounds but matched Campbell’s 22.15 on his final throw, despite the wet ring. With a better secondary mark (21.71 to 20.00), Kovacs also three-peated as the silver medalist, while Campbell won bronze for Jamaica’s first medal in the event. Fabbri never got going and eventually finished fifth with 21.70 and only two valid throws, also behind Payton Otterdahl of the United States.