„You can win whatever you want, but Olympic gold is only mine“, this is what Tomasz Majewski (born on 30 September 1981) could say to his opponents and he wouldn’t exaggerate. The Polish shot putter is the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion from Beijing and London and only the third shot putter in history who has defended Olympic gold – the first one after USA’s Parry O’Brien, who did it in 1952 and 1956.
In London, he won with 21.89, out-throwing world champion David Storl by only three centimetres.
„He is young, he is explosive and he will always throw very far. The next Olympic Games will be his, but this one is mine“, Majewski said after the London final.
Besides two Olympic gold medals, Majewski has world silver from Berlin in 2009 and a European title from Barcelona in 2010.
To call him a Golden Giant is no exaggeration, as all these titles belong to a 204 cm tall man weighing 140 kg. Being that tall, Majewski’s hobby is basketball, of course, but also video games.
He will have no time to play games in Zagreb on 3 September, because his competition will be fierce. He will be up against world vice-champion USA’s Ryan Whiting (22.28 this year), Christian Cantwell (20.29) and Cory Martin (20.67), Canada’s Dylan Armstrong (21.34), world bronze medallist from Moscow, Hamza Alić of Bosnia and Herzegovina (20.73), Serbia’s Asmir Kolašinac (20.80) and Croatia’s Marin Premeru (20.59).