Ryan Crouser (born December 18, 1992) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus. He specializes in the shot put, in which he is the only three-time Olympic gold medalist, having won in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris, and also a three-time outdoor World Champion. He holds the world record in the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. He set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023, improving upon his previous record of 23.37 m from July 2021. He has held the indoor record of 22.82 m since January 2021.
In his early career, Crouser set a national high school record for the indoor shot put and outdoor discus, and he won gold in the shot put at the 2009 World Youth Championships. At the University of Texas at Austin, he won four NCAA titles in the shot put. He won the national title in the shot put at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships seven of the eight times the event was held between 2016 and 2024. He is also a four-time national champion in the indoor shot put at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, winning in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
Crouser won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a throw of 22.52 m and retained his title at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic record of 23.30 m. He also won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a throw of 22.90 m. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, he won a silver medal. Crouser then went on to win gold at both the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. His throw of 23.51 m in Budapest set a record for the farthest throw ever at a World Championships.
Crouser has been named Track & Field News World Male Athlete of the Year. He was also awarded USA Track & Field's highest accolade, the Jesse Owens Award, and was twice a finalist for Male Track and Field World Athlete of the Year by World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field. Crouser holds the distinction of earning victories in a Diamond League Championship, Olympic Games, World Indoor Championship, World Outdoor Championship, and World Youth Championship.
Early life and youth competition
Crouser was born on December 18, 1992 in Portland, Oregon, and raised in the neighboring rural area of Boring. He comes from a family with a background in throwing events. His father, Mitch Crouser, was an alternate on the 1984 Olympic discus team. His uncle, Brian Crouser, competed in two Olympics in the javelin, while his other uncle, Dean Crouser, excelled in shot put and discus. His cousins, Sam and Haley Crouser, are also javelin throwers. He started participating in track and field in the fifth grade and was competing at a high level when he reached high school.
In 2009, his sophomore year at Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon, Crouser set a national sophomore record with the 1.62 kg (3.58 lb) discus, throwing 61.72 m. This mark was also the Oregon high school state record until Sam Crouser broke it the following year. Crouser won both the 5 kg shot put and the 1.5 kg discus at the 2009 National Youth Championships. This performance qualified him to represent the United States in both events at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy. There, he won gold in shot put with a championship record throw of 21.56 m and silver in discus.
In his senior year in 2011, Crouser broke the national high school indoor record in the 5.44 kg (12 lb) shot put with a throw of 23.54 m. This performance marked a rebound from Crouser's junior year, when he was hampered by a foot injury. As a senior, Crouser also broke the national high school record in the discus by throwing 72.40 m to break Mason Finley's record from 2009. After graduating from Barlow High School in 2011, Crouser enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, rather than keep with his family's tradition of attending the University of Oregon.
Crouser competed for the University of Texas at Austin from 2012 to 2016, where he won four NCAA titles in the shot put. As a freshman, he dealt with a torn ligament in his throwing hand and illness, leading him to redshirt the 2013 indoor season. His first title came as a sophomore at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he threw 21.09 m. Crouser, who had been successful academically, began to struggle with the heavy workload during his second year and opted to switch his major from engineering to economics.
In his third year at the university, Crouser won another national title in the shot put at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships in March, throwing 21.21 m to defeat Stephen Mozia (20.06 m). The following summer, the 21-year-old won his third national title in the shot put at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships, recording a mark of 21.12 m. During this event, Crouser injured his left foot on his final throw after it collided with the toe board of the shot circle, leading him to withdraw from the discus event at these championships. In his fourth year, he placed second behind Stipe Žunić at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships, reaching 20.93 m on his best attempt to Žunić's 21.11 m. At the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Crouser placed fifth in both the shot put and the discus.
Due to red-shirting the 2013 indoor season, Crouser had one more winter of collegiate eligibility left, which he used for the 2016 indoor season. The fifth-year senior recorded a personal best of 21.73 m at the 2016 Big 12 Indoor Championships. This performance matched Ryan Whiting's 2008 collegiate indoor record and was the farthest throw in the event so far that year. Later that winter, Crouser won his second collegiate indoor title and fourth title overall with his victory at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. In June 2016, he was named a semi-finalist for the Bowerman, an award given by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to the year's outstanding student-athlete.
2016–2018: Gold medal at the Rio Olympics
While preparing for the 2016 US Olympics trials, Crouser pursued a master's degree in finance at the University of Texas. He trained under Mac Wilkins, a former Olympic champion in the discus. At the trials, Crouser defeated the reigning world champion, Joe Kovacs, to win his first national title and qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On August 8, Crouser won the gold medal in the event, setting an Olympic record with his throw of 22.52 m. He was the first American man to win the event since 2004.
Crouser won another national title in the shot put in June 2017 and competed in the event at the 2017 World Championships in London, where he finished sixth. At the 2018 USA Outdoor Championships on June 23, he placed second with a throw of 20.99 m, behind Darrell Hill's 21.57 m. In the 2018 Diamond League, an annual series of international competitions, he won in Eugene with a throw of 22.53 m, in Monaco with 22.05 m, and in Zagreb with 22.09 m.
Crouser began competition in 2019 with a victory at the Millrose Games in New York on February 9, where he threw 22.33 m. He followed this performance with another victory at the 2019 USA Indoor Championships on the February 23. In July, he won a national title at the 2019 USA Outdoor Championships, qualifying him for the 2019 World Championships in Qatar. At the World Championships on October 5, Crouser threw a personal best (22.90 m) to finish behind Joe Kovacs (22.91 m), in what World Athletics called the "greatest – and closest – shot put competition ever".
2020: Fourth best throw ever amid COVID-19 pandemic
Crouser started the year with victories in the shot put at the Millrose Games and the 2020 USA Indoor Championships. His competition schedule was halted until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the postponement of the 2020 Summer Games and the disruption of the international sports calendar. To cope with the frustration of these shutdowns and maintain his competitive edge, Crouser took part in bass fishing tournaments. He also built his own shot put ring near his home. On July 19, he resumed competition at the American Track League Meet, setting a personal best of 22.91 m and the fourth best mark in history. Crouser ended the year undefeated in all 10 meets in which he participated.