Crouser Prevails in Zagreb Shot Put Showdown

Published by IAAF on September 5, 2016

Ryan Crouser prevailed in an eagerly anticipated reunion of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games medallists as the 66th edition of the Hanzekovic Memorial IAAF World Challenge Meeting got underway with a festive shot put-only competition in the City Fountains Park in central Zagreb on Monday (5).

After a pair of narrow back-to-back defeats to New Zealand's Tom Walsh over the past nine days, the newly-crowned Olympic champion turned the tables with a 22.28m victory in this attractive amphitheatre style setting, the second farthest throw of his career.

"Every time I throw against Tom and Joe (Kovacs) it's a great competition, they're awesome throwers, so I knew it would probably take 22 metres to win," said Crouser, whose victory in the Croatian capital was the fourth 22-metre competition of his career.