Ryan Crouser is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus. He specializes in the shot put, in which he is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a two-time World Champion. Crouser holds the world record in the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. He set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023, improving upon his previous record of 23.37 m from July 2021.
In his early career, Crouser set a national high school record for the indoor shotput and outdoor discus, and he won gold in the shot put at the 2009 World Youth Championships. At the University of Texas at Austin, he won four NCAA titles in the shot put. He has won the national title in the shot put at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in six of the seven times that the event has been held between 2016 and 2023. He is also a four-time national champion in the indoor shot put at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, with victories in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
Crouser achieved his first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a throw of 22.52 m and retained his title at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic record of 23.30 m. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, he secured a silver medal. Crouser then went on to win gold at both the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. His heave of 23.51 m in Budapest set a new record for the farthest throw ever at a World Championships.
Crouser has been named Track & Field News World Male Athlete of the Year. He has also been awarded USA Track & Field's highest accolade, the Jesse Owens Award, and has twice been a finalist for Male Track and Field World Athlete of the Year by World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field.
