Ryan Crouser

Ryan Crouser

Crouser at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	United States
Born	(1992-12-18) December 18, 1992 (age 24)
Height	6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Weight	290 lb (132 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Shot put Discus throw
College team	Texas Longhorns
Club	Nike
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	SP: 22.52 m (2016) DT: 63.90 m (2014)
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Shot put World Youth Championships 2009 Bressanone Shot put 2009 Bressanone Discus throw

Ryan Crouser (born December 18, 1992) is an American shot putter and discus thrower. Crouser won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He had previously won the gold medal in the boys' shot put at the 2009 World Youth Championships and was a two-time NCAA champion in the shot both indoors and outdoors for the University of Texas.

Crouser was born in Boring, Oregon on December 18, 1992. He belongs to a family of throwers; his father Mitch Crouser was an alternate on the 1984 Olympic discus team, his uncle Brian Crouser qualified for two Olympic teams in the javelin, his other uncle Dean Crouser was a good shot putter and discus thrower, and his cousins Sam and Haley are both javelin throwers. He took up track and field in fifth grade, but was initially not as good as his cousin Sam; he made his breakthrough in eighth and ninth grade.

In 2009, his sophomore year at Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon, Crouser set a national sophomore record with the 3.58 lb (1.62 kg) high school discus, throwing 202 ft 6 in (61.72 m); the mark was also the Oregon high school state record until Sam Crouser broke it the following year. Crouser won both the 5 kg shot and the 1.5 kg discus at the 2009 national youth championships, and was selected for the IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy in both events. In Bressanone he took gold in the shot put, breaking the championship record with a 21.56 m (70 ft 9 in) put in the fifth round; in the discus he won silver.

Crouser's 2010 season was hampered by a foot injury. He returned to top shape in 2011, breaking the national high school indoor record in the 12 lb (5.44 kg) shot put with 77 ft  2 ³⁄₄ in (23.54 m); the mark placed him second behind Mike Carter's outdoor record on the all-time national high school list. Outdoors, he broke the national high school record in the discus, throwing 237 ft 6 in (72.40 m) to add one foot to Mason Finley's record from 2009. Crouser graduated from Barlow High after the 2011 season; he chose to go to the University of Texas instead of the family's traditional choice of Oregon.