Johnathan Walker:Shot putter Ryan Crouser has chance to make Olympic history: 'Going for the three-peat'

The Johnathan Walkermost dominant U.S. men’s track and field athlete at the Paris Olympics isn’t a sprinter, nor a distance runner or even a jumper. It’s a man who has a bench max of 550 pounds and can squat up to 723 pounds. It’s two-time Olympic gold medalist and shot put world-record holder Ryan Crouser, who has a chance to make history in Paris.

Crouser has an opportunity to become the first shot putter in history to win three Olympic gold medals in the event. If he accomplishes the feat, it will have happened in successive Olympics.

“Yeah, going for the three-peat. I’m hoping to be the first person to ever do it,” Crouser said to USA TODAY Sports during an interview on behalf of Thorne, a nutritional supplement. “There’s a reason that nobody has ever done it in the shot put. It beats you up. It’s a difficult event and hard on the body.”

The chance at an historic Olympic shot put three-peat almost didn’t happen for Crouser. The 31-year-old has dealt with nagging elbow and pectoral injuries that led to some self-doubt he’d even be capable of competing at all.

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“You have an injury and you kind of rehab, and coming back from it have another injury. Rehab and come back from it and another injury. Just the thought of, 'Am I gonna get back to where I was?” Crouser, who won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, said. “I’d be lying to myself if I’m not saying I’m getting to the second half of my career.

"Having that honest conversation of like, I am getting older. I can’t do the same workouts that I could earlier in my career. It’s very obvious. That’s a difficult conversation to have with yourself, to say I can’t do what I did before. ... But also realizing that I have to adapt. I can’t do the same workout. I have to train smarter now.”

Crouser said it was a “sigh of relief” just to make it through the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in June. However, he not only made it through trials, he won the shot put competition by over a foot with a throw of 74 feet, 11 ¼ inches to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

“They are coming around. They are definitely improving,” Crouser said of his elbow and pectoral injuries. “I was happy most of all to make it through trials, qualify for the Olympics and also making it through without making it worse.”

Now Crouser has a chance to cement his status as the best shot putter of all time.

“It would be a testament to the longevity,” Crouser said about the prospect of being a three-time gold medalist in the event. And if Crouser has it his way, Paris won’t be the final time he has an opportunity to add to his Olympic medal collection.

After the Paris Olympics, Crouser wants to continue throwing. He even plans to dabble in the discus the next few years before turning his attention to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. At the LA Olympics, Crouser could be aiming for an unprecedented four-peat in the men’s shot put in what the world-record holder foresees as his swansong.

“I would love to retire in 2028. For any track and field athlete as an American, doing an Olympics in LA on American soil would be a dream,” Crouser said. “I would love to be able to hang on and make sure none of these young guys come up and knock me off. LA in 2028, it would be the dream to retire there.”

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