Rio 2016 Olympic Champion in the men’s Shot put, Ryan Crouser, was one of the standout performers at the Eugene Diamond League held at the Hayward Field in Oregon on Saturday, May 26th.
The 25-year old was in a class of his own as he dominated the men’s Shot put event, kicking off competition with an impressive throw of 21.98m to top the standings. He then extended his lead with a brilliant throw of 22.12m to become the only man to throw beyond the 22m mark on the evening.
However, the American still had a lot to give as he went on to smash his Meeting Record (MR) of 22.43m, unleashing an enormous throw of 22.53m, which is 12cm shy of his Personal Best (PB) set last year.
Michal Haratyk saved the best for last, taking 2nd place with his throw of 21.97m, while Brazilian Darlan Romani extended his PB by 1cm, upstaging reigning World Indoor and Outdoor Champion Tom Walsh to take 3rd place with 21.95m, with the latter settling for 4th with 21.84m.
It was a German onslaught in the men’s Javelin throw as Olympic Champion, Thomas Rohler, inspired a 1-2-3, having come from behind to finish ahead of teammate and World Champion Johannes Vetter (89.34m), setting a Stadium and Meeting Record of 89.88m in the process. Their compatriot Andreas Hofmann was 3rd with 86.45m.
Though not a Diamond League event, the contest in the women’s Pole vault also provided some excitement as former Olympic Champion Jenn Suhr bounced back into reckoning to upstage the favourites.
The 2016 World Indoor Champion set an MR of 4.85m, same mark Rio 2016 Bronze medallist Eliza McCartney set in 2nd, which is a National Record (NR) for the New Zealand athlete. Sandi Morris had to settle for 3rd with 4.70m.
Despite falling short of his MR of 2.41m set in 2015, Mutaz Barshim was the man to beat in the High Jump where he was the last man standing at 2.36m, as Danil Lysenko and Yu Wang were unable to go past 2.32m. Barshim then made three attempts at 2.42m, but it was not to be, and the London 2017 GOLD medallist had to be content with the win.
Christian Taylor won the men’s Triple Jump with a mark of 17.73m, as Will Claye and Almir Dos Santos followed in 2nd and 3rd respectively with 17.46m and 17.35m.
Sam Kendricks bounced back to winning ways on his home soil to win the men’s Pole vault with 5.81m. Armand Duplantis and Piotr Lisek secured best jumps of 5.71m respectively, while World Record (WR) holder Renaud Lavillenie was relegated to 5th place with 5.56m.
