by Rob Leachman
In this series, the author takes a historic look at the men’s shot put in an effort to identify the greatest in the history of the event. With the recent meteoric rise of Ryan Crouser, Leachman uses a set of criteria to determine whether Crouser or the greatest shot putters of the pre-Crouser era, Parry O’Brien or Randy Matson, is the true GOAT.
This Series
Introduction
As Ryan Crouser entered the Olympic Stadium for the final of the men’s shot put at the Tokyo Games, an event postponed for a full year by the Covid 19 pandemic, he carried several titles. He was the defending Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in Rio in a mild upset with an Olympic record performance that included three personal bests in the final. He was the dominant shot putter of his generation, exhibiting consistently high levels of performance during two quarantine-impacted seasons. Entering the 2021 season, of all throws indoors and outdoors beyond seventy-four feet, amazingly almost half belonged to Ryan Crouser.
Then, six weeks earlier, he attained a title he and other greats of the event had been seeking for thirty-one years. Randy Barnes had in 1990 extended the world record to a mammoth 75-10½. Later that same year, Barnes was suspended from competition for twenty-seven months after testing positive for anabolic steroids, a charge he denied and unsuccessfully fought in the courts. As a result, for over three decades, the sport had officially recognized a world record that was tainted to the point that Track and Field News, considered by many to be the most reputable periodical covering the sport, recognized as the world best a 75-8 throw by the East German Ulf Timmermann. (Ironically, though he has steadfastly denied ongoing allegations of his use of performance-enhancing drugs, Timmermann represented East Germany, which according to records uncovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall had systematically implemented a state-sponsored program of illegal drug use by its top athletes.)
Throwing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the newly renovated Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon, a venue in which he had competed on countless occasions since he was a child, Crouser finally put together a record-breaking, but not perfect in his mind, performance. He had served notice earlier that afternoon that he was in peak form, reaching 75-2½ in the qualifying round. That distance was a full foot-and-a-half farther than any previous qualifying throw.
In the final, some seven hours later, Crouser opened with a stellar 74-2¼ toss that would soon seem rather pedestrian on this historic day. In the fourth round, with an effort that caused Crouser to raise his arms triumphantly as soon as the shot left his right hand, the men’s shot put world record was brought into the modern (i.e. comprehensive drug testing) era. The throw measured 76-8¼, ten inches beyond Barnes’ official record. In a testament to the dominance of his performance against a quality field, Crouser’s record-breaker was a full meter beyond the second-place throw by Joe Kovacs, the defending world champion.
Alluding to the notion that the previous world best had been tainted, in his post-meet comments, Crouser said, “It’s awesome to have a 100 percent clean world record right now.”
Six weeks later, Crouser and a strong field prepared for the Olympic final. Due to Covid restrictions, the Olympic Stadium was largely empty, but the atmosphere was charged nonetheless. As Ryan Crouser entered his second Olympic competition, only four other athletes had officially exceeded 75-0. On this day, the new world record-holder would exceed that distance on three throws. And in a series of six throws with the shortest attempt reaching 73-11 ½, Crouser averaged 75-½. On his final throw of the competition, with his second gold medal already secured, he reached 76-5½, the second-longest throw in history and less than three inches short of his still-fresh world record.
The dominant men’s shot putter of his generation, world record-holder after obliterating a tainted mark that had stood for thirty-one years, and now two-time Olympic gold medalist. It was natural for track and field enthusiasts to ask whether Ryan Crouser was worthy of yet another title among legendary men’s shot putters – the greatest of all time.
Without at least a bit of rationality and methodology, determining the greatest anything is tantamount to identifying the prettiest sunset or the most adorable baby, a selection based on personal aesthetics and preferences. To best determine the greatest historic athlete in any event, each must be evaluated based on an established set of criteria (though admittedly the criteria can change based on the individual doing the evaluating).
For the process of ascertaining whether Ryan Crouser or another iconic athlete is the greatest men’s shot putter of all time, the following evaluative criteria are offered:
1) Olympic success. Except for the 1940 and 1944 Games that were lost due to World War II (and the one-year delay in the Tokyo Games), the Olympics have been held at least quadrennially since the modern era began in 1896. The Olympic Games are considered the consummate competition in track and field, and the gold medal winner in any event is considered the best in the world at that moment. As a result, an athlete’s success in Olympic competition is considered arguably the most important criterion in this evaluative process.
2) World Championships success. Since 1983, what are now called the World Athletics Championships have been held, first, every four years until 1991 when they reverted to the current biennial schedule. Though considered a step below the Olympic Games for track and field athletes, success in a world championship competition is considered a very significant accomplishment. Since 1985, the World Athletics Indoor Championships have been held every two years. Due to the nature of the indoor competition, with limited and different events and different strategies utilized, success in the indoor championships is considered a step below that achieved in the outdoor championships.
3) Level of performance compared to contemporary rivals. This includes world records, won-loss records against other top-ranked competitors, world rankings, best yearly performances, and winning margins versus those of other top competitors.
4) Longevity. Some athletes perform at a championship level for just a few years while others are active for well over a decade. Typically, the greats in the sport of track and field remain active, world-ranked, and competitive for Olympic and world titles for longer periods of time.
5) Impact on the event. Some athletes, through changes in training or technique or outreach efforts that increase the popularity of the sport, have a significant impact on their event that transcends performance levels. Though not nearly as significant as other criteria that are directly linked to performance, revolutionizing an event is a peripheral factor in considering the greatest athlete in an event.
6) No credible evidence of the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) impacting their highest levels of achievement and performance. This criterion is admittedly a tricky one, as for years steroids and other PEDs permeated track and field, with the throwing events most significantly impacted. For decades, track and field governing bodies struggled with determining how to deal with the issue and then struggled to develop the fortitude needed to implement stringent testing protocols. As an example of the scope of this problem, as the Montreal Olympics approached in 1976, Jay Silvester, a former world record-holder in the discus and at that time a Ph.D. candidate at Brigham Young University, completed some formal and informal research regarding the widespread use of anabolic steroids. As a result, he suggested, “I’d say close to 100 percent of the world’s weightmen use steroids now or have at one time or another.” A powerful and bold statement from the straight-shooting legend of the sport. Still, it would be wrong to issue a blanket condemnation of all throwers who competed before the implementation of widespread drug testing simply because greater opportunities existed to gain a chemically attained competitive advantage.
But to their credit, some athletes have admitted to their steroid use and others have been implicated through the uncovering of records of systemic, state-sponsored programs of PEDs, such as in the former East Germany.
In the opinion of this author, an athlete who, according to records and accounts deemed credible, used PEDs in a manner that impacted his highest levels of performance and competitive achievement should not be considered among the greatest of all time in his event.
In any discussion regarding the greatest men’s shot putter of all time, numerous individuals are worthy of inclusion in that conversation.
Ralph Rose was the first great shot putter of the modern Olympic era, competing during a time of little technique, minimal specific training, and virtually no event specialization. Still, Rose was the first thrower to surpass fifty feet and was the Olympic gold medalist in 1904 and 1908 before finishing second in 1912. He tragically died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty-nine.
Former Kansas great Bill Neider broke the world record three times, lost the gold medal to Parry O’Brien in 1956, winning silver, and then turned the tables on his rival in 1960 to become Olympic champion.
Nieder’s successor as the world record holder, Dallas Long, officially broke the mark six times. He won the bronze medal in 1960 behind Neider and O’Brien before becoming Olympic champion in 1964. He retired that year after a relatively short competitive career, becoming a prominent dentist in Southern California.
Udo Beyer was the Olympic Champion in 1976 and the bronze medalist in 1980. Known for his exceptional strength, Beyer broke the world record three times, with nearly eight years separating his first and last world mark. An East German, he admitted knowingly participating in the program of performance-enhancing drugs sponsored by sports authorities in his native country.
The Italian great, Alessandro Andrei, won the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. He broke the world record three times in one competition, becoming the first thrower to have a series in which all six throws were beyond 22 meters (72-2).
Another East German, Ulf Timmermann, was the Olympic champion in 1988. He broke the world record twice, in the process becoming the first thrower over 23 meters. Though there have been allegations of Timmermann using steroids, he has steadfastly denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
With a relatively undersized body (6′0″, 255 lbs.) and utilizing a slightly unconventional technique, Adam Nelson reached a personal best is 73-10 and won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A favorite four years later in Athens, Nelson led the competition heading into the final round before being tied by a thrower from Ukraine, Yuriy Bilonog. After Nelson fouled on his final attempt, the gold medal was awarded to the Ukrainian based on tie-breaker rules. Then, nine years later, a reanalysis of doping samples yielded a positive result for Bilonog, and he was stripped of his gold medal. Nelson was unceremoniously awarded the gold medal outside of a Burger King restaurant in a food court at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
With Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012, the latter making him the first men’s shot putter to defend his gold medal since Parry O’Brien in 1956, Tomasz Majewski of Poland clearly peaked for the two most important competitions of his career. But as the rare athlete in this event to defeat the best in the sport in two consecutive Games, Majewski’s personal best was just beyond 72 feet, relatively modest during an era when others were reaching distances of one or two feet further.
While Majewski and others became famous for their performances at the Olympics, another thrower has found his greatest success, at least thus far, in the World Championships. The American great, Joe Kovacs, won world titles in 2015 and 2019, with a second-place finish in 2017. In Doha, Qatar in 2019, dubbed by many as the greatest shot put competition in history, Kovacs came back in the final round to extend his personal best to 75-2, surpassing the first-round bomb of Tom Walsh by a scant but critical ¼ inch and then holding off Ryan Crouser’s final effort by an identical distance.
In the Olympics, however, Kovacs has met a different fate. With silver medals in 2016 and 2021, the Penn State alum solidified his position as one of the greatest shot put performers in Olympic history, yet was surpassed in both Rio and Tokyo by Ryan Crouser, each time by a significant margin. But for his friend and rival, Joe Kovacs might be a two-time Olympic champion.
Though exceptional athletes, none of these legendary throwers, from the perspective of this author based on the criteria delineated earlier, could be considered the greatest of all time. Some had strong Olympic careers and set world records, but didn’t dominate the event, at least for a significant period of time. Others, such as Majewski, excelled at the Olympics but otherwise lacked the performance levels of the all-time greats. Still others, though typically steadfastly denying involvement, were linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
In essence, none of these tremendous throwers reached the performance level of the two greatest shot putters of the pre-Ryan Crouser era – Randy Matson and Parry O’Brien.
References
Associated Press, 1987, “Andrei Sets Shot Put Mark,” The New York Times, August 13, 1987
Associated Press, 2013, “German Shot Put Star Says He Doped,” The New York Times, February 14, 2013
Conrad, Roy, 2019, “World Champs Men’s Shot-The 75-Foot Barrier Battered,” Track and Field News, October 2019
Friend, Tom, 1993, “A Strong Man with a Very Heavy Grudge,” The New York Times, February 20, 1993
Hill, E. Garry, 2012, “The Old School Wins Again,” Track and Field News, October 2012
Hill, E. Garry, 2021, “Olympic Men’s Shot-An Average of More Than 75-Feet?!,” Track and Field News, September 2021
International Olympic Committee, “Profile-Ulf Timmermann,” downloaded from https://olympics.com/en/athletes
Lindstrom, Sieg, 2019, “Joe Kovacs Had Reason to Smile in Doha,” Track and Field News, October 2019
Los Angeles Times, 1987,“Italy’s Andrei Surpasses 75 Feet to Break World Shot Put Record,” August 13, 1987
Los Angeles Times, 1991, “Six East German Olympic Champions Reportedly Used Steroids in Mid-‘80s,” Agence France-Press, February 18, 1991
The New York Times, 1913, “Athlete Rose Dead: Victim of Typhoid,” October 17, 1913
Sargis, Joe, 1976, “Steroid is a Bad Word for Jay Silvester,” United Press International, Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1976, p. OC A9
Thorburn, Ryan, 2021, “Ryan Crouser Breaks World Record in Shot Put at U.S. Olympic Track and Field Championships,” Eugene Register-Guard, June 18, 2021
Track and Field News, 2020, “Ryan Crouser’s Huge Collection of Long Throws,” September-October 2020
USATF, “Profile-Dallas Long,” downloaded from http://legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame
USATF, “Profile-Bill Neider,” downloaded from http://lwww.usatf.orgathlete-bios
World Athletics, “Profile-Tomasz Majewski,” downloaded from http://worldathletics.org/athletes
Copyright 2022 by Rob Leachman – All Rights Reserved
