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Tom Walsh was impressed, but far from depressed about his close-up view of the remarkable record-shattering feats of giant American shot put exponent Ryan Crouser in Los Angeles on Sunday (NZT).
The 31-year-old Christchurch-based athlete actually had the best seat in the house for the biggest shot put show ever seen at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, finishing a distant runnerup at the LA Grand Prix gold-level meet.
There has literally never been another series like it as the 2.01m, 145kg colossus improved his own world record by 19cm to 23.56 metres in the most complete display of putting in history. Crouser threw 23.23m, 23.31m (just 6cm off his then world mark), 22.94m, 23.56m, 22.80m and 22.86m to lay down an emphatic marker as the northern season swings into action.
Katharine Lotze/Getty Images
Shot fired: American Ryan Crouser displays his new shot put world record at the Los Angeles Grand Prix.
“It was special,” Walsh told Stuff on Monday (NZT) as he prepared for a Wednesday departure for a three-meet burst in Europe. “Any day someone throws over 23m is a pretty special one, but when he has a series like he had and extended his own world record by nearly 20cm, it was a hell of a throw and something we all strive to do and are all working towards.”
If Walsh sounds a little matter of fact about the most significant performance his sport has seen, well, there’s a good explanation. The three-time world champion and twice Olympic bronze medallist has been predicting this level of throwing since well back, when Crouser and he, among others, were nudging up into the high-22m area. Plus, as an athlete who still harbours hope of unseating the Olympic and world champion, he cannot afford to get too fan boy about these things.
“Men’s shot put, even without Ryan throwing 23 metres, is still the strongest it’s ever been,” said Walsh. “It’s not a surprise and when I saw it I wasn’t shocked by it. Nor scared by it. I have full belief. The way I throw it takes me a bit longer to get into shape, and I don’t have the levers that Ryan has, so he can throw a base distance consistently well.
“It definitely doesn’t scare me as much as some people think it might.”
Katharine Lotze/Getty Images
Tom Walsh was a distant second at the LA Grand Prix meet where Ryan Crouser extended his world record.
Walsh was no slouch in LA, finishing second with a 22.12m second-round toss. That’s his best throw of the year, and his furthest since last year’s Commonwealth Games (22.26m), though well short of his PB of 22.90. He acknowledged it’s now on the chasers to get up to speed with Crouser’s pace.
“I congratulated him, said ‘hell of a throw, man’, and told him ‘you’re buying the flipping drinks later on’, which I had to force him to do,” he added.
“It was an amazing throw, and it’s good for the sport for him to keep throwing far. But we’ve got to keep our end of the bar up and keep pushing him, keep challenging him, because when someone is too dominant the sport gets a bit dull, and I definitely don’t want that.”
The Timaru athlete, who’s had to battle the odd demon through the challenging Covid years, says he views Crouser’s performance as encouraging.
“You know if he can do it, why can’t I? I’m in a good space, I’m throwing the furthest I’ve thrown this early in a season, and that puts into perspective where I’m at. Physically I’m good – I’ve just got to keep control of that mental stuff.
“Ryan is going to throw a long way all the time. That’s what he does. What I can control is how I see that and how I act after it.”
Katharine Lotze/Getty Images
Ryan Crouser acknowledges the announcement that he had just added 19cm to his own world shot put record.
The Kiwi is not without hope. He’s beaten Crouser before – most notably to win the world title in 2017 – and retains a quiet belief it can be done again.
“Every giant gets toppled at some point,” he says with a smile. “I had my time in the sun a few years ago; Ryan is having his now. I believe I can and will throw further, and that time in the sun will come back.”
If Walsh had one beef from Sunday, it was the “naughty boy’s corner” the event was held in, far from the main part of the arena. “No one could really appreciate how far that ball went. It was a hell of a competition, with six guys over 21.50 … when I first came on the scene, 21.50 was probably going to win a meet. Not now.
”The level is really good, the depth is really good, and part of that falls on ourselves to inform people and help them understand how impressive it is.”
Walsh now heads to the Florence Diamond League meet on June 2, and then two events in Poland on June 4 and 6, before returning to the US for a “rebuild block” ahead of the main part of the season in Europe. He does so with a decided spring in his step.
“There were some good signs there for when I get some more timing, into the slot a bit more, and actually get behind it a bit. I’m happy where I’m at, and that’s what I can control, and what I can work on. I can’t control what he does.”
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