Just before the IAAF World Championships, doctors discover two blood clots in Ryan Crouser’s left leg. The shot put world champion threatens to miss the competitions in Budapest – but makes it to Hungary despite the diagnosis. The American set several records there.
At the latest with the second attempt, shot putter Ryan Crouser clears up the last doubts. The American heaves the 7.26-kilogram ball to a distance of 22.98 meters, making it the longest shot in the history of the World Athletics Championships. In the sixth and last round, when he is already sure of the gold medal, he goes even further: 23.51 meters. Crouser alone has surpassed this mark so far. Just once, and by two inches, at his world record in Los Angeles in May.
The world record holder not only successfully defended his title on the opening day in Budapest, he also improved his own championship record from the previous year by four centimetres. “That was tough,” he says afterwards at the stadium microphone: “The last try was a reward for all the hard work and dedication over the past year.” The 30-year-old is going through the “20 most frustrating and stressful days of my life” in the final phase of preparing for this World Cup decision in the capital of Hungary.
Because immediately before leaving for Europe, two blood clots were discovered in the left calf of the world record holder. “The emergency mode started immediately,” Crouser writes on Instagram: “The key questions were: ‘What is the best possible treatment?’ and ‘Is it still possible to start at the World Cup?’ In consultation with his medical team, the 2.01 meter man is currently being treated with blood thinners, among other things, which should initially enable him to fly from the USA to the metropolis on the Danube.
The strain turns out to be a blood clot
“They explained the risks to me and tried to minimize them,” says Crouser himself, reflecting the doctors’ advice, “then they left the decision to go to the World Cup to me and my family.” The dominant shot putter of the recent past decides to take the plunge – and is rewarded with the second World Cup gold of his career, after having previously won the Olympics twice. No one has done that before Crouser either. Silver goes to the Italian Leonardo Fabbri (22.34 meters), who scratched the 23-meter mark with an invalid attempt, bronze to Joe Kovacs (USA/22.12).
At the top, however, Crouser determines the competition. In the first attempt he achieved 22.63 meters, followed by 22.98 in the second round. These two shots would have been enough to win gold. Despite taking medication, which he says makes his participation “safe” and “minimizes the risk of it getting worse.”
The complaints began at the end of July as pain in the calf. A strain was initially diagnosed, maybe even a small muscle fiber tear, supposedly nothing to worry about. Despite the pain, Crouser trained for around a week and a half. However, because these are not declining as expected, those around him advise him to carry out a thorough investigation. The two blood clots in the left leg are discovered.
Crouser says he has had none of the usual symptoms of such a condition. The clots are “further away from the heart and smaller” on the ultrasound of the muscles than in comparable cases. And so the American decides to travel to Budapest and defend his title. What he manages with the second best shot in the long history of athletics. Almost as if nothing had happened.