Kovacs Tops Crouser, Walsh By One Centimeter In Historic Shot Put Competition

By Nate Mann, Special To DyeStat

DOHA, Qatar – Joe Kovacs entered the shot put final of the IAAF World Track and Field Championships with two goals: win a medal and throw a personal best. Through five of his six throws, Kovacs was in fourth place and hadn’t thrown more than his best of 74 feet, 0.75 inches (22.57m).

On his final attempt, Kovacs did more than achieve his goals. His throw of 75-2 (22.91m) set a one-foot personal best, put him in first place, and broke the championships record.

“It didn’t register right away that it was that far,” said Ashley Kovacs, Joe’s wife and coach. “When I saw it come up on the board, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.’”

That throw put him in front of New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh by one centimeter. Walsh, who threw 75-1.75 (22.90m) in the first round to set a short-lived championship record, ended up with the bronze medal despite the narrow loss to Kovacs.

That’s because Ryan Crouser, the Olympic champion, on his final throw, tied Walsh at 22.90m. His second-best throw was longer than Walsh’s to earn the silver medal, his first medal at a world championship.

“With a competition like that, anytime you throw a lifetime best, you really can’t be upset with the place,” Crouser said. “Of course I always want one centimeter more, but Joe competed unbelievably well and I’m just honored to be out there with all the guys on Team USA.”

In a shot put final that included three new championship records, Kovacs came away with the gold medal and tied for the third-farthest put in history. It was his second gold medal and third consecutive podium finish at the world championships to add to his silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics. But the road to four medals in four years wasn’t easy.

“I wasn’t throwing far, I was hearing everybody try to tell me that I should be done, and I honestly thought maybe I should hang it up and it’s been a good ride,” he said. “My wife and I talked, and we said, ‘Our goal’s through Tokyo and let’s put it all together and let’s go full speed ahead. There’s no reason to hang it up.’”

Kovacs' throw was the farthest in the world in 29 years. The competition produced three of the top seven marks of all-time – by three different men.

The gold medal celebration won’t last long. After a dinner with his wife, Kovacs will turn his attention to qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The U.S. has several throwers capable of throwing more than 70 feet, which Kovacs said makes him nervous.

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Nike Oregon Project’s Sifan Hassan, of The Netherlands, completed a historic double gold at the world championships on Saturday: She became the first woman to win both the 1,500 and 10,000 meters at the world championships. Her personal-best time of 3 minutes, 51.95 seconds, in the 1,500 was nearly seven seconds faster than the previous championship record of 3:58.52.

Hassan abandoned her usual technique of running in the back until the final lap and instead led a majority of the race. She acted as a rabbit. The top eight finishers in Saturday’s final beat the 16-year-old championship record. But no one could keep up with her kick as she ran the final 300 meters in 44.54 seconds.

“I wanted to run fast and I wanted to show the world that I can run a championship-fast time,” Hassan said.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s announcement of NOP coach Alberto Salazar’s four-year ban has clouded Hassan’s two gold medals, though. She didn’t speak to the media after the first two rounds of the 1,500 meters but addressed the issue after Saturday’s win.

“I’ve been so on top since 2014 before I joined Oregon Project,” she said. “They can go check my background. What do they think, they don’t test me? They think [WADA] don’t test me?”

American Jenny Simpson, who’s been outspoken about the doping controversy, kept it short after her eighth-place finish in a season-best 3:58.42.

“It’s like I said last time, if they’re allowed to race, I’ll race them,” Simpson said. “I was eighth, and [Hassan] was first. And I’ll take that result because it’s within the rules.”

Simpson’s U.S. teammate Shelby Houlihan, of the Nike Bowerman Track Club, barely missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish in 3:54.99, a new American record.

She expected and wanted the fast race initiated by Hassan.

“I feel like that’s what racing’s all about, is just seeing who can run the fastest,” Houlihan said. “Once it started getting going, I was like, ‘Here we go. This is what I want.’ I didn’t realize it was going to be that fast.”

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The U.S. men’s 4x100-meter relay team won gold Saturday in a world-leading time and American record of 37.10 seconds. The team, made up of Christian Coleman, Justin Gatlin, Michael Rodgers and Noah Lyles, got through all three exchanges without any mistakes.

The U.S. has historically struggled with baton passes in the event, exhibited in the preliminary round when Cravon Gillespie almost left the exchange zone before receiving the baton from Rodgers.

“I just feel like the media tries to bash us for what we did in the past and finally we just got over the hump and was like, ‘All right, we’re going to shut these people up tonight,’” Rodgers said. “We said that this morning and we did it, so nothing else needs to be said.”

Great Britain finished second in 37.36 seconds and Japan third in 37.43 seconds.

The U.S. women’s 4x100-meter relay team also made the podium with a bronze medal finish. Dezerea Bryant, Teahna Daniels, Morolake Akinosun and Kiara Parker ran 42.10 seconds.

Jamaica, led by 100-meter gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, won in a world-leading 41.44 seconds. Dina Asher-Smith and Great Britain got the silver medal in 41.85 seconds.

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American Brianna McNeal, the 2016 Olympic champion and 2013 world champion in the 100-meter hurdles, false started in her preliminary heat. She left the track in tears and didn’t speak with the media but released a statement later Saturday night.

“Well of course I am very heartbroken by this mistake that I made,” McNeal said in the statement. “My focus and training was wired around this very moment, but unfortunately I lost focus for just a milli second and it cost me an opportunity to be a World Champion again, but I am not defeated.”