Olympic champion Ryan Crouser shakes off injury to claim shot put, Jasmine Moore soars in triple jump at U.S. Olympic Trials: Day Two wrap
Ryan Crouser is all the way back.
Day two of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - track & field was star-studded from the track to the field to... musician Snoop Dogg in the stands Saturday night (22 June) under the lights of Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The two-time and reigning Olympic champion, Crouser owned the night in the shot put final, throwing a 22.84m (74 feet, 11 inches) on his fourth attempt to top fellow world champ Joe Kovacs, who finished second (22.43m).
The table is now set for Crouser, who grew up in Oregon near to Eugene, to start his bid at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to become the first man ever to win three Olympic gold medals in shot put. Kovacs has won silver at the last two Games.
Crouser had been dealing with an elbow issue and a torn pectoral muscle in recent weeks, making his season debut at the Trials and throwing just once in the qualifying round to make it into the final.
Sha'Carri Richardson is now an Olympian, too, after winning the women's 100m. Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman went sub-10 seconds into men's 100m semi-finals at U.S. Trials.
Jasmine Moore saved her best leap for last in women's triple jump finals to finish at the top, going 14.26m (46 feet, 9 inches).
Yared Nuguse tied the Olympic Trials 1500m meet record of 3:34.09 in the semi-finals, leading the pack of twelve into finals.
Following two days of competition, 23-year-old Heath Baldwin took gold in decathlon with a personal best of 8,625 points to qualify for Paris. Baldwin will be joined by Zach Ziemek, looking ahead to his third Olympic Games, and 2023 U.S. decathlon champion Harrison Williams.
Two-time Olympic champ Ryan Crouser fight through injury
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic team of Crouser, Kovacs and Payton Otterdahl will reunite for Paris 2024.
Crouser was unbeatable from the start, making incremental improvements with his best throw, which came in the fourth round with a distance of 22.84 metres.
Crouser recognised the strength of the U.S. team headed to Paris, telling NBC: “If the whole world had to come to Olympic Trials, they might have qualified one guy, maybe.”
Crouser has battled injuries since early March.
“It was a tough spring to say the least," he said. "I was just happy to be out here competing again. You never want to open your season at the Olympic Trials if you can help it, but that's kind of what it required.”
Kovacs, echoed Crouser’s sentiments, saying, “This is the hardest team in the world to make and we're honoured to be able to send a really strong team [to the Olympics] this year.”
Otterdahl was on the outside in fourth place behind Jordan Geist until his fifth throw of 22.26m secured his spot to Paris.
Jasmine Moore leads a triple threat in women’s triple jump final
The competition in women’s triple jump heated up in the sixth and final round.
Moore saved her best leap for last to earn gold with a mark of 14.26 metres. Moore, who competed for Team USA at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, boasts the best mark ever (indoors) by an American of 15.12 metres, which she set at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Keturah Orji, twice an Olympian - with a best placing of fourth in 2016 - also flew on her final attempt, jumped to a 14.22m (46-8), to claim second, and defending champion Tori Franklin kept her first attempt of 13.72 m(45-0¼) as her best for third.
Moore will next be competing in the long jump, which begins on Thursday (27 June).
Johnny Brackins leads in men's long jump
University of Southern California’s Johnny Brackins was safely through in eighth place, when, on his final attempt, he improved with an 8.03m (26 feet, 4 inches). That gave him the top leap of the day.
The U.S. indoor champion had this to say of his performance: “For me, 8.03m isn't that much of an accomplishment. I think the goal is a little higher now: It’s about the final.”
Will Willams - who was seventh at the World Indoors in March - earned the second-best jump matching with an 8.03, while former Oregon Duck standout Damarcus Simpson earned an 8.00m on his final jump to easily advance in third place.
NCAA Outdoors champ JC Stevenson scratched out of the event. Twelve athletes advance into Monday’s finals.
Yared Nuguse picks up the pace in men's 1500m semis
After finishing tenth in Friday’s round one, American record holder Nuguse moved out front early in the men's 1500m semi-finals, turning up the speed to tie that aforementioned Olympic Trials 1500m meet record of 3:34.09. Nuguse was pushed by Hobbs Kessler who remained in second with a time of 3:34.16.
Nuguse’s time Saturday was a huge bump up from the 3:37.61 he had posted the day prior, setting the stage for the final on Monday (24 June).
In a post race interview, Nuguse said: "I came into this with a little different strategy. I wanted a pretty honest effort so I went out there and did that. And it went well - it felt good."
Also qualifying into the finals alongside Nuguse and Kessler are Henry Wynne, Nathan Green, Elliott Cook and Vincent Ciattei - all of whom broke the 3:36 mark. Craig Engels, Cole Hocker, Liam Murphy, Ethan Strand, Cooper Teare and Joe Waskom round out the group of twelve.
Women's high jump, 400m head towards finals
Elsewhere, the women saw finallists advance on the field in the high jump and on the track with the 400m.
Sanaa Barnes was flawless through three jumps to clear 1.83m (6 feet) to lead after the high jump qualifying, with two-time Olympian Vashti Cunningham opting to sit out until the 1.83m mark, which she cleared on the first attempt. Charity Hufnagel was also three-of-three on her attempts.
Ten women in total cleared the 1.83m mark.
In the 400m, Shamier Little turned heads just by showing up on the track after saying she would scratch from the semis to focus on the 400m hurdles in the coming days. Instead, she raced a 50.16, the fourth-fastest effort of the day to qualify into the final.
Kaylyn Brown (49.71), Kendall Ellis (49.81) and Aaliyah Butler (50.01) were the top three, with the women's 400m final set for Sunday.