Photo: Renato Brandjolica/Hanžeković Memorial
Ryan Crouser put in fantastic performance at the 6th Ivan Ivančić Memorial in Zagreb.
The Olympic champion from Rio de Janeiro threw 22.74 in his third attempt and smashed his own meeting record of 22:28, which he had held since 2016!
Crouser threw over 22 metres four times (22.10, 22.74, 22.59, 22.31) and his winning throw was not only the new meeting record, but also the 11th-farthest shot put mark of all time and the best throw achieved in Europe since 1988.
“I am very satisfied with my today’s performance, absolutely everything was excellent. I may be sorry for not having thrown 23 metres, but I am also very happy with this result. The atmosphere at the venue was magnificent and I think that this is a great comeback of athletics after all those problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll go on, I have a few more competitions until the end of the season”, Crouser was visibly satisfied.
Reigning world champion Joe Kovacs finished second with 21.30. He was also very satisfied with his performance in Zagreb.
“This was my first competition this season and I didn’t know what I could do. I knew that I was not at the level that I was at at the end of last year’s season. But I felt very good, and so is my result. I’m physically ready, but my technique is not the best yet and I have a lot to improve. This was another great competition in Zagreb”, the last year’s world champion from Doha said.
David Storl, two-time world champion, finished third with his season’s best of 21.20.
So the world could see yet another brilliant competition of the world’s best shot putters in Zagreb and the shot put venue by the fountains confirmed its cult status among the competitors.
The 6th Ivan Ivančić Memorial was held within the 70th Hanžeković Memorial, a WA Continental Tour Gold meeting. The Meeting continues in Mladost Stadium on Tuesday, 15 September, starting at 17:50.
Shot Put Results:
1 Ryan Crouser USA 22.74 MR
2 Joe Kovacs USA 21.30
3 David Storl GER 21.20
4 Payton Otterdahl USA 21.06
5 Nick Ponzio USA 21.03
6 Konrad Bukowiecki POL 20.59
7 Tsanko Arnaudov POR 20.45
8 Kemal Mešić BIH 19.13
9 Francisco Belo POR 19.08
You can follow the live results of the 70th Hanžeković Memorial at linktr.ee/hanzek_zagreb
