2 Team USA Olympians medal in shot put — including Penn State alum after clutch performance

For the third straight Olympics, Team USA took the top two spots in the shot put — with a Penn State alum seizing silver after a clutch toss on his final throw Saturday in Paris.

Pennsylvania native and PSU graduate Joe Kovacs is no stranger to medaling in the shot put. The 35-year-old has now won silver in three straight Olympics, while teammate Ryan Crouser took gold in the last three. Interestingly enough, Kovacs is largely seen as the world’s second-best thrower — behind only his teammate.

Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell rounded out the podium Saturday with a bronze medal.

Although Kovacs was again the favorite this year to finish second overall, it was far from a guarantee. The Nittany Lion born in Nazareth, Pa., found himself on the outside looking in heading into his sixth and final throw.

That’s when the U.S. Olympian poured everything he had into the toss, shouting “Yeah!” a moment after the shot hit the ground. It seemed he immediately knew that vaulted him into second, as he turned to the crowd, flexed and continued to shout “Yeah! Yeah!”

His final throw was 22.15 meters. Had it not been for that, he would’ve finished fourth at 21.71 meters. (Another U.S. teammate, Payton Ottderdahl, would’ve then been awarded bronze with Campbell winning silver.)

Crouser finished with a winning throw of 22.90 meters, making him the first shot putter in Olympics history to win three career golds. Campbell also became the first person in his country’s history to medal in the event, after a distance of 22.15 meters. That was the same distance as Kovacs, but Kovacs won on a tiebreaker because his second-best throw went farther.

Kovacs attended Penn State from 2008 to 2012. He was a PIAA shot put and discus champion at Bethlehem Catholic, and he twice won world championships — in 2015 and 2019.

He is only the second Penn State track and field athlete to ever win three Olympic medals. The first was Barney Ewell, who won a gold and two silvers at the 1948 Summer Olympics.