Olympic Champion Returns To Meet Where He Broke The High School Record And Thrills Crowd With An Unexpected World Record

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Becky Holbrook

POCATELLO, Idaho – What better way to resurrect a once-proud track meet shelved for the past two years due to concerns around COVID-19 than to jolt it back to life with a world record. 

Yet, who could even imagine such a thing, especially since it's a big high school meet serving a wide swath of the intermountain U.S. 

Enter Ryan Crouser.

The two-time Olympic champion was invited to come back to the 43rd Simplot Games by his cousin, Haley Crouser, who has become one of the newest members of the event's board of directors. 

Ryan Crouser has history at Simplot. Twelve years ago, he came to the meet looking for an opportunity to test himself as a high school senior and he smashed the national high school record. He had taken up the spin technique just a few months prior. 2011 VIDEO

After a few days of fly-fishing along icy riverbanks, Crouser played the part of special guest and attended various meet functions, greeted sponsors and signed autographs, and worked out the details of an exhibition competition against five members of the Idaho State track team so that his throws would count. 

Just in case. 

Minutes after the meet's opening ceremony and national anthem, Crouser went into the ring and took what he calls a "static throw." Meaning no frills. Just a basic throw to get the series going. 

His warm-ups were pounding the ISU artificial turf near a taped line that designated his world record distance of 76 feet, 8.25 inches, or 23.37 meters. 

Then his first attempt static throw sailed 76-8.50, or 23.38 meters. 

Even though there was buzz around the meet of going for a world record, Crouser entered the ring feeling like anything over 22 meters would be acceptable. 

"It really surprised me," he said. "I did a speech, just yesterday, about the two kinds of world records. There's the surprise and there's the finally. There's the one where you do it and you're the most surprised person and there's the finally world record, you do it and say finally. Because when I first threw the 23.37 outdoors, that was a finally. I'd had five or six meets where I would have bet the house I was going to break the world record and I didn't. I got a little bit tight."

An extra day of rest, a welcoming crowd, positive vibes, whatever it was, Crouser managed to uncork the biggest throw in history in the same Simplot Games sector where he broke the high school record in 2011.  

After the first throw, Crouser's shot was impounded so that it could be certified by officials for records purposes. And there was a risk that if he kept throwing with that implement it might break, and then the record can't be validated.

"With indoor balls you never really know when they're going to explode (on impact), so I didn't want to take the risk," he said. "I've broken five or six this season alone."

Crouser borrowed Idaho State's shots for rounds 2-6 and they have a "hard shell" versus the "soft shell" that he generally uses.

"It's a different hand feel, and I don't really practice with hard-shell shots," he said. "It took a little bit of getting used to."

Crouser said his fifth and sixth throws, which sailed 74-1.75 (22.60m) and 73-0.50 (22.26m), respectively were potentially 23-meter throws.

"They just didn't have that flick on the finish and that's worth 60 or 70 centimeters," he explained. 

Regardless of how anything went after the electrical moment in round one, the day was a resounding success. For the meet. And for Crouser. 

"Really happy with the day's performance. I just surprised myself in round one."

Another piece of the certification was a drug test and Crouser stayed "in the field of play" for hours, including the entire duration of the high school meet, to check that box. 

As he waited, he continued to support the meet, handing out medals to star-struck high school athletes on the podium, signing more autographs and posing for photos with everyone who wanted to capture a piece of the moment.