A5
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2021
SPORTS
Oregon-native breaks shot put
world record at Olympic trials
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
The record was older
than he is.
When Ryan Crouser
broke it, “it felt like it was a
huge weight lifted.”
The 28-year-old who
built a training ring at his
home in Arkansas to stay
on point during the corona-
virus pandemic shattered a
shot put world record Fri-
day night that was set 2 1/2
years before he was born.
On Day 1 of the U.S.
Olympic Trials, he heaved
the massive medal sphere 76
feet, 8 1/4 inches to put his
name in the record book and
punch his ticket to Tokyo,
where he’ll have a chance
to defend his Olympic title
next month.
Just like he always
imagined.
“There were so many
times that I was throwing
a 6-pound shot put behind
the middle school, throwing
by myself, and let it go and
put my hands over my head
and be like, ‘Oh, new world
record!’” Crouser said. “I
knew it’s been a possibil-
ity or potential to do it since
2017.”
Virtually everyone in this
tightly knit group of throw-
ers knew the record of 75-10
1/4, held by Randy Barnes
since May 20, 1990, was in
jeopardy. Earlier this year,
Crouser topped Barnes’
indoor record. Earlier on
Friday, during qualifying,
Crouser heaved 75-2 1/2 to
set the American Olympic
trials record.
Crouser was feeling so
good in the preliminary
round that he thought a
world record was possible
right then and there. What
kept him from going for it
was his shoes. Though he
had brought a pair of new
Nikes to Eugene for the tri-
als, he opted for a more bro-
ken-in pair because the shot
put ring at the newly remod-
eled Hayward Field was
“fast.”
“But they take your
shoes if you break the world
record,” Crouser said of
World Athletics, which
tests all shoes involved in a
record. “I thought, ‘I don’t
know, if I throw a world
record in prelims, I won’t
have shoes for the fi nal. I’ll
have to throw in the (new)
Nikes.’”
So, the record held — but
only for a few more hours.
Even before the fourth of
his six tries on a mild, sunny
evening had plunked into
the dirt, Crouser was lifting
his arms to celebrate. When
the shot landed, far beyond
where any other mark had
been made, a collective gasp
Charlie Riedel/AP Photo
Ryan Crouser celebrates after setting a world record during
the fi nals of the men’s shot put at the U.S. Olympic Track and
Field Trials on Friday in Eugene.
Astoria, Seaside swimmers
qualify for one-day state meet
‘THERE WERE SO MANY TIMES
THAT I WAS THROWING A 6-POUND
SHOT PUT BEHIND THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL, THROWING BY MYSELF,
AND LET IT GO AND PUT MY
HANDS OVER MY HEAD AND BE
LIKE, ‘OH, NEW WORLD RECORD!’ I
KNEW IT’S BEEN A POSSIBILITY OR
POTENTIAL TO DO IT SINCE 2017.’
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Ryan Crouser
came from the quarter-fi lled
stands.
About
a
half-min-
ute passed while offi cials
checked the distance. When
the mark came up on the
board, confi rming that he
had broken one of the lon-
gest-standing records in
the books, he was mobbed
by his competitors near the
ring.
“Finally timed that one
up,” said Crouser, who grew
up in Oregon, went to col-
lege at Texas and now serves
as a volunteer coach at
Arkansas. “I think I was cel-
ebrating on that one almost
before it left my hand.”
Among those congrat-
ulating him were world
champion Joe Kovacs, who
fi nished second, and Payton
Otterdahl, who earned the
third spot.
“There are three or four
guys capable of doing that,”
Kovacs said. “In Tokyo,
there are going to be some
fi reworks. Every year, we’re
talking about the records
being broken and I think
there’s more to come.”
Several minutes after his
record, Crouser was proudly
posing on the fi eld. The pic-
ture: Him standing next to
the scoreboard with both
thumbs raised and the words
“World Record” highlighted
in green on the board next to
his new record.
Shot putters fashion
themselves as part-time
physics gurus. They spend
hours analyzing their throws
Alyson O’Connor
Astoria’s state-qualifying 200-yard medley relay team. From left, Grace Peeler, Tori Smith,
Brooke O’Connor and Hannah Daniels.
from multiple angles, all in
the hopes of eking out a few
more centimeters.
About the dynamics of
his best-ever throw, Crouser
said: “I stayed big with my
chest and relaxed and let the
entry happen. I didn’t force
it. And once I did that well,
I knew the throw was going
to be good, so I didn’t do
anything to mess it up from
there.”
Crouser, who fi nished
second to Kovacs at the
world championships in
Doha in 2019, didn’t miss a
day of training in 2020, even
with the coronavirus pan-
demic shutting things down
across the globe. He built
a homemade shot-put ring
that he constructed out of
two sheets of plywood and
screws from Home Depot.
Crouser is hard to
miss at a track meet. The
320-pounder takes down
about 5,000 calories a day
to keep weight on his 6-7
frame. His diet consists of
two big breakfast burritos
in the morning, a pound of
ground beef for lunch and
three of the four portions
from a meal delivery ser-
vice at night.
So, what does a newly
minted world record holder
do for dinner? Well, options
fi gured to be limited at the
late hour he would get out of
the track.
“I’ll probably go for
a big, old double-double
hamburger somewhere,” he
said.
Astoria was the lucky
school to serve as the host
team for the District 1
swim championships, held
last Thursday at the Astoria
Aquatic Center.
And the home water
advantage defi nitely served
its purpose for the Fish, who
qualifi ed a host of athletes
for this week’s season-end-
ing showcase meet, which
will serve as the unoffi cial
state championships.
Seaside won the boys
team championship, while
Astoria qualifi ed multi-
ple swimmers for the state
meet, set one school record
and sent seniors out on a
winning note.
The unoffi cial state meet
is a one-day meet set for
Saturday at the Warren H.
Daugherty Aquatic Center
in Cottage Grove.
The Seaside boys quali-
fi ed all three of their relays
Toledo and Valley Catho-
lic were the other schools
competing.
Astoria’s 200 medley
relay (Tori Smith, Grace
Peeler, Hannah Daniels,
Brooke O’Connor) took
second in 2:10.57, as did
the 200 freestyle relay
(Constance Rouda, Smith,
Daniels and Peeler).
In her fi nal meet in Asto-
ria, Peeler highlighted the
meet with a school record
1:15.47 to win the 100-yard
breaststroke, well ahead
of teammate Marlee Both
(1:30.62), who will join
Peeler at state.
Rachel
Gascoigne’s
previous school record of
1:15.48 had stood for 15
years.
Astoria’s 400 freestyle
relay (Rouda, Lily Reed,
Both and Peeler) also qual-
ifi ed for state, fi nishing sec-
ond out of three teams.
Also a senior, Smith
took second in the 200-
yard individual medley.
for state and stacked up
points with numerous sec-
ond-place showings to
compile 295 points, ahead
of Taft (259) and Astoria
(173).
Seaside’s only win came
from the 200-yard free-
style relay squad of Masyn
McCulloch, Leif Rehnert,
Logan Dennis and Henry
Garvin, the only senior.
Their winning time of
1 minute, 42.01 seconds
beat second-place Asto-
ria (Phelan Dopp, Trevor
Newman, Christian Wom-
ack, Steven Ero) which
will head to state with a
1:50.03.
Garvin also qualifi ed
for state in the 50 and 100-
yard freestyle; Dennis in
the 100-yard butterfl y and
McCulloch in the 200 and
500-yard freestyle.
On the girls side, New-
port cruised to the team
title with 334 points, ahead
of Astoria (216) and Sea-
side (144). Taft, Tillamook,
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SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
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Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
66 54
65 54
68 55
71 57
73 58
69 56
65 51
Nice with some Sunshine and Clouds limiting
Mostly sunny
Not as warm Clouds breakingClouds breaking
sun
pleasant
sun
Aberdeen
Olympia
67/55
78/55
Wenatchee
Tacoma
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Lake
78/52
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Sunday
Tonight’s Sky: Sunrise at 54
degrees (NE) and sunset at 306
degrees (NW).
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 71/56
Normal high/low .................. 64/51
Record high .................. 86 in 1902
Record low .................... 42 in 1947
Precipitation
Sunday ..................................... 0.00”
Month to date ........................ 1.91”
Normal month to date ......... 1.92”
Year to date .......................... 37.27”
Normal year to date ........... 35.28”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Time
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
12:30 p.m. 6.5 6:16 a.m. -0.9
11:51 p.m. 9.3 5:54 p.m. 2.3
Cape Disappointment
12:11 p.m. 6.4 5:25 a.m. -1.0
11:28 p.m. 9.3 5:03 p.m. 2.6
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today .................. 5:24 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 9:11 p.m.
Moonrise today ............. 7:13 p.m.
Moonset today ............... 3:34 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
12:20 p.m. 6.7 5:47 a.m. -1.1
11:41 p.m. 9.6 5:29 p.m. 2.3
Warrenton
12:25 p.m. 6.9 6:00 a.m. -0.8
11:46 p.m. 9.6 5:38 p.m. 2.4
Knappa
1:07 p.m.
none
Depoe Bay
June 24 July 1
July 9 July 17
6.8 7:17 a.m. -0.7
6:55 p.m. 2.0
11:26 a.m. 6.3 4:57 a.m. -1.4
10:40 p.m. 9.4 4:31 p.m. 2.5
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
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Houston
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76/65/t
80/56/c
75/61/pc
86/72/s
93/65/s
88/73/s
90/76/t
84/66/pc
91/79/c
77/56/sh
106/86/pc
76/62/pc
74/58/t
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
82/67/pc
74/60/s
80/66/pc
93/77/pc
95/67/pc
88/73/c
93/77/t
82/62/pc
89/79/t
76/61/s
105/85/pc
74/59/pc
76/59/s
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
96/67
Hermiston
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94/66
94/65
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89/60
85/56
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
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86/60
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101/70
77/52
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96/63
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66/54 Portland
84/58
91/64
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77/51
Astoria
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95/69
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83/54
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86/54
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87/53
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88/57
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97/67
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86/51
98/67
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94/62
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85/50
City
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Today
Hi/Lo/W
86/53/t
61/52/pc
64/54/pc
86/55/pc
61/52/pc
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
92/53/pc
63/52/pc
63/55/pc
86/52/s
61/50/pc
City
North Bend
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Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
66/55/pc
88/57/pc
66/52/pc
90/53/pc
85/56/pc
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
65/53/pc
88/56/s
65/51/pc
90/52/s
84/55/pc