Ryan Crouser retained his shot put world title on Saturday despite being affected by blood clots in a lower leg taking gold in style with a championship record throw of 23.51 metres.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe had singled out the shot as the event to savour at the championships and Crouser did not let him down, producing a totally dominant performance.
Crouser donned his trademark stetson hat after celebrating his victory.
“It’s been a terrible preparation, the last 20 days have been very tough,” he said, though sporting a beaming smile.
The 30-year-old American, the two-time Olympic champion and world record holder, set the pace from the first throw and turned the screw on his rivals with a then-championship record effort of 22.98 metres in the second round.
An almighty battle took place for the minor medals with places swapping on a regular basis. Two-time world champion Joe Kovacs at one point slipped to seventh but then moved back to bronze with a mighty effort of 22.12m in the penultimate round.
The surprise package was Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri who took silver with a personal best of 22.34m.
His performance meant no medal for New Zealand’s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh, who had to make do with fourth with a best effort of 22.05.
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