The American Ryan Crouser became the first man to three-peat in the Olympic shot put on Saturday, adding another gold medal to his packed trophy cabinet with a mighty throw of 22.90 metres.
His compatriot Joe Kovacs won silver and Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica took bronze.
Crouser, the world record holder, battled with a nerve issue in his elbow this year but had no issues at the Stade de France as he produced his best throw of the season on his third attempt, clapping with satisfaction.
It was another win that underlined US dominance of the event. The US has now won 20 men’s Olympic shot put gold medals. Poland is the next best country, with three.
Twice a world champion, Crouser clapped his hands and cheered as he posted 22.64m on his opening throw – an effort that would have been good enough to get him to the top of the podium had he not improved.
He urged on the crowd before making his second attempt and pumped his fist after throwing 22.69m. Fans erupted as he improved that mark with third throw.
Rain began to spit down midway through the competition and several competitors slipped, including Crouser, who had fouls on his next two attempts. He did not make a sixth throw, having locked up the gold.
Crouser, who has said he believes he can improve his own world record of 23.56m, raised his arms and grinned widely as the crowd cheered.
Campbell had been on few people’s radars but he got the crowd’s attention with a tremendous 22.15m throw on his second attempt.
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Kovacs was fourth when he got on to the podium in dramatic fashion, heaving the shot 22.15m on his final attempt to equal Campbell’s best mark. He took silver over the Jamaican on the strength of his second-best throw.