Ryan Crouser of the United States celebrates after the Men's Shot Put Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (silubaba/Wang Lili)
BUDAPEST, Aug. 19 (silubaba) -- American Ryan Crouser defended his world title in the men's shot put with a new Championship record of 23.51 meters here on Saturday.
The two-time Olympic champion has shown great form this season so far as he raised his world record to 23.56m in May.
In the newly-built National Athletic Centre in Budapest, 30-year-old Crouser was untouchable since the first attempt. He smashed the Championship record with a result of 22.98m in the second throw before improving it to 23.51m in his final attempt.
"The last throw was testament to all the hard work and dedication over the last year," said Crouser, who revealed on social media on Friday that he suffered pain in his calf and was diagnosed with two blood clots in his lower leg but he decided to compete in Budapest despite that.
"The last few days have been hard, so it with all that has happened it was a phenomenal throw," said Crouser.
Italian Leonardo Fabbri grabbed the silver medal with a personal best of 22.34m, followed by American Joe Kovacs in 22.12m
The U.S. team also bagged home the mixed 4x400m relay gold with a new world record of 3:08.80.
The Netherlands were meters away from the world title but their last leg Femke Bol fell on the track.
"I do not know what happened. It has never happened to me before. I cramped towards the finish line, I was pushing, pushing, pushing. I was disappointed that my body did not have it in to finish the race strongly," said Bol.
Minutes earlier, Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan also fell down in the final dash, watching Gudaf Tsegay from Ethiopia claimed the women's 10,000m title in 31:27.18.
Tsegay's compatriot Letesenbet Gidey and Ejgayehu Taye finished second and third in 31:28.16 and 31:28.31 respectively.
Hassan, who won both the 5,000m and 10,000m golds at the Tokyo Olympic Games, managed to surpassed all her rivals with a strong sprint in the last lap, but was challenged hard by Tsegay in the final meters.
"I expected Hassan's speeding up and I just waited for this moment being ready to respond for her moving. When Sifan tried to cross my line not far from the finish, I even did not pay attention to that. It happens often at different competitions because everyone of us always fights for leading position," said Tsegay.
In the first final of the opening day at the World Championships, Spaniard Alvaro Martin pushed himself forward with 5km to go, winning the men's 20km race walking with this season's world leading result of 1:17:32. ■
Joe Kovacs of the United States competes during the Men's Shot Put Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (silubaba/Wang Lili)
Joe Kovacs of the United States gestures during the Men's Shot Put Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (silubaba/Wang Lili)
Ryan Crouser of the United States competes during the Men's Shot Put Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (silubaba/Wang Lili)
Ryan Crouser of the United States competes during the Men's Shot Put Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (silubaba/Meng Dingbo)
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