Why Ryan Crouser's a symbol of resilience and excellence: ‘Little wins matter the most’
After achieving legendary status at Paris 2024, the world record holder spoke exclusively to Olympics.com on his future throwing plans and why he hopes to retire at Los Angeles 2028.
Despite a throwing career spanning nearly two decades, Ryan Crouser is still learning, growing and enjoying the moment.
A curious approach for a man who has dominated his event and is just fresh off winning his third consecutive gold at the Olympic Games.
For the American, devotion to a sport like shot put has meant getting by despite tough breaks.
A stubborn elbow injury and a torn pectoral muscle just months after a blood clot scare meant that Crouser's third moment atop the Olympic podium became a symbol of his resilience and unmatched excellence.
"If nothing else, just overcoming a lot of adversity this season," he told Olympics.com about what he would take away from cementing his shot put supremacy at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
"It's been kind of plagued with injuries, a little bit of self-doubt and not knowing, can I get to the level that I need to be at? Not feeling like I was in the shape that you dream about for the Olympics."
Ryan Crouser on third Olympic title at Paris 2024: 'It's the one I appreciate the most'
When Crouser won gold for the first time on his first try at Rio 2016, it may have looked easy, a dream start to his Olympic career.
Eight years later his mastery of his event remains.
Six of the top 10 world all-time men’s best shot put marks are his, including the world record of 23.56m.
The 31-year-old has been the golden man on the podium at the last three Olympic Games. But of all his performances, Paris 2024 was harder than expected.
“This one in for me personally is up near the top,” he admitted, looking back at his Olympic career.
“Rio, I was fresh out of college, first year professional, and I felt like… not that I didn't appreciate it, but I stumbled my way into it. And Tokyo was just stressful. It felt like a pressure cooker, (…) I was coming off a world record. It felt like that Olympics was mine to lose.
“Paris, just overcoming the adversity, not coming in as a super heavy favourite, having the third-farthest throw in the world (this season) and feel personally like I was expecting myself to win.
"I felt lucky to be there, happy to be there. Just overcoming injuries. It's definitely the one that I appreciate the most.”
Crouser’s third straight gold made him the first athlete in history to win the Olympic Games shot put thrice: an unprecedented feat made even more remarkable after a season inhibited by ill-health, injuries and mental health struggles.
Last year, doctors found two blood clots in his leg. Cleared to fly at the last moment, he was able to travel to Budapest, Hungary, to successfully defend his world title.
“Yeah, it's been frustrating!” he offered.
“I'm proud of kind of staying the course. When I couldn't throw because of the elbow, I spent more time doing sprints and plyometrics. So finding ways to have small wins, finding ways to still be productive. I can’t bench press, okay, we'll do some squats.
“So, it's finding ways to stay productive and mentally overcoming those little battles because it's constant. I think it's something that the younger version of me would have struggled with.”
What’s the next target for arguably the greatest shot putter of all time?
It was a difficult and uncertain period for the man who has spent most of his life throwing a 7.2kg (15.9lb) ball.
Growing up in a family with a rich history in field throwing events influenced him becoming the superstar he is. His father, Mitch, was an alternate for the U.S. discus team at Los Angeles 1984, while his uncle Brian and cousin, Sam, were javelin throwers at three Olympics combined.
Crouser has not only dominated men’s shot put but transformed it as well. The engineering and finance graduate, who introduced a new throwing technique dubbed the "Crouser Slide", used a quantifiable approach to manage his training and remain competitive in the run-up to the Games.
“There was kind of a choice between we either train (with) frequency or we train (with) intensity. If I train at a high intensity, I need to take two or three days to recover from that. Or if I can train (with) frequency, the intensity is much lower, but I can kind of build back-to-back days. And that's what I decided to do,” Crouser explained of how he managed to win at Paris 2024 with a throw of 22.90m.
“We just really hammered fundamentals, doing the little things right. It gave me a little bit of confidence going in. I made an educated gamble of sorts to focus on frequency, fundamentals, knowing that the intensity would take care of itself.
"You train for years for the Olympics. If you can't find intensity on that day, you're in the wrong sport.”
And after his final in Paris, the shot putter – who has been primarily self-coached since his first Olympics – took on a coaching role, returning an old favour.
Mac Wilkins, an Olympic discus gold medallist from Montreal 1976, bet on him. Wilkins trained Crouser to hist first national title and the Olympic gold medal in Rio.
This time, Crouser guided Jamaican Roje Stona to the gold in the men’s discus final.
The Oregon native is a favourite to join Swiss Werner Günthör and American John Godina as three-time shot put world champion at next year’s World Championships in Japan.
Then, attention turns to finding a way to reinvent himself before a final hurrah at the LA 2028 Olympics.
“For any Olympian, your dream would be to do a Games on home soil. And the way it coincides with the length of my career, I would love to hang up the shoes on American soil so that that's the dream.
"There'll be some changes. Got to figure out, how do we focus on longevity? How do I make it there healthy?
"Continue to enjoy the sport, but the dream would be to retire in LA.”