This week in Olympic history: 16-22 December - Shot put sensation Ryan Crouser is born
Olympics.com explores the week in Olympic sports history, highlighting Olympians' birthdays and notable sporting events from 16 to 22 December.
Athletics
Welcome to This Week in Olympic History, where Olympics.com looks back on the most significant sporting events of the past. This week, we'll cover 16 to 22 December.
On this day – 18 December 1992: Ryan Crouser is born
This week we are celebrating a history maker: Ryan Crouser, the first shot putter to win three gold medals in three consecutive Games.
Born on 18 December 1992 in Portland, USA, Crouser is widely regarded as one of the greatest American field athletes and certainly one of the best shot putters in history.
He made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016 and set an Olympic record of 22.52m to seize gold and etch his name into the history books at the first time of asking.
Crouser returned as defending champion five years later at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, now with the added weight on his shoulders as the trendsetter and the indoor world record holder.
That proved no problem for the two-metre-tall powerhouse from Oregon, who retained his Olympic title and broke his own Olympic record to up the bar to 23.30m.
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Crouser added another bow to his string by throwing a new outdoor world record, clocking in at an astonishing 23.56m.
Going into Paris 2024 as the indoor and outdoor world record holder, as well as a two-time Olympic champion, the pressure was mounting on Crouser.
Yet the American rose even higher at the Stade de France: a third Olympic gold in a row, something which no one in the history of the sport has ever achieved.
Crouser has revolutionised the shot put standard, introducing a technique called the ‘Crouser Slide’, for which he called on his academic experience in engineering, analytics and finance to give him more force and distance on his shots.
Quote of the Week | Ryan Crouser, three-time Olympic shot put champion
"It is the little victories that hold the value, the pursuit of being present in the moment and knowing that each and every moment is enough."
Notable Olympic birthdays: 16-22 December
- Daniel Narcisse (France, Handball, two-time Olympic champion) born 16 December 1979
- Donovan Bailey (Canada, Athletics, two-time Olympic champion) born 16 December 1967
- Thiago Braz da Silva (Brazil, Athletics, Olympic champion) born 16 December 1993
- David Rudisha (Kenya, Athletics, two-time Olympic champion) born 17 December 1988
- Susanthika Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka, Athletics, Olympic silver medallist) born 17 December 1975
Gold medallist Marion Jones of the USA (left) embraces bronze medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka after the women's 200m finals at Sydney 2000.
- Kaitlyn Farrington (USA, Snowboard, Olympic champion) born 18 December 1989
- Brianne Theisen-Eaton (Canada, Athletics, Olympic bronze medallist) born 18 December 1988
- Alberto Tomba (Italy, Alpine Skiing, three-time Olympic champion) born 19 December 1966
- Yana Egorian (Russia, Fencing, two-time Olympic champion) born 20 December 1993
- Britta Heidemann (Germany, Fencing, three-time Olympic medallist) born 22 December 1982
Make sure to check back on Olympics.com next week for more sports and Olympic history.