ZAGREB, CROATIA, September 06-08 — Headlining the Boris Hanžeković Memorial, Ryan Crouser just keeps throwing farther. “I am still on less than 10 competitions this year,” he said after his seasonal best. “So it still feels like I am finding my shape.”
Throwing the day before the main session, the 3-time Olympic champion opened with a 73-4½ (22.36) and followed with a foul and a 73-½ (22.26). In round 4 he tied his seasonal best (set at the Olympics) at 75-1¾ (22.90). After a 74-1 (22.58) in round 5, he blasted his final effort out to 75-2¾ (22.93), 3cm closer to Joe Kovacs’ world leader from the Eugene DL.
Ideal conditions helped Payton Otterdahl to an outdoor PR — 73-8¼ (22.46) — while in 3rd, Olympic bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell broke the Jamaican Record with his 73-2½ (22.31). Said Crouser, “My first-round throw of 22.36 usually is enough for the win, especially that late in the season. It helped having those guys to push me to farther distances.”
Marco Arop has been running hot since his 800 silver in Paris. Here he made no secret of his hopes to bring down Noah Ngeny’s 1000 WR, a mark which has stood for a quarter-century. Yet from the start, things went off the rails. The first sign was when the long-striding Canadian got squeezed by the pack right after the gun. He was clipped and had to chop his stride and make his way around all of them before he could start chasing the rabbits.
The pace up front might have been good, but Arop found himself too far back, hitting 400 in 52.8 and 600 in 1:19.6. A strong fourth 200 brought him to 800 in 1:45.8. He held on to finish in a Canadian (and North American) Record 2:13.13, moving to No. 5 on the all-time list. Behind him, Jonah Koech (2:15.15) moved to No. 2 ever among Americans.
Arop said he felt good, adding, “I think to beat the World Record I need to be more aggressive early on, but there was just too much room to make up for.”
Jasmine Moore in the long jump (22-¼/6.71) and Valarie Allman in the discus (222-3/67.74) were the only U.S. winners on the women’s side.
Nelly Chepchirchir of Kenya won the 800 in a PR 1:57.00. In 4th, Sage Hurta-Klecker ran a lifetime best of 1:57.53. Solid times also went to Jamaica’s…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…