Penn State's Joe Kovacs Nearly Wins Another Epic World Title

Kovacs launches a season-best in the shot put to claim silver at World Track & Field Championships.

Joe Kovacs sought to defend his 2019 shot put world title Sunday in Eugene, Oregon. But Ryan Crouser continued his dominance in the sport, winning his first world championship in the process.

Kovacs, the Penn State graduate and two-time world champion, claimed silver at the World Track & Field Championships after conducting another epic duel with Crouser, the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist. Kovacs won his fourth career medal at worlds, which he added to the Olympic silver medals he won in 2016 and 2021.

The U.S. swept the shot-put podium, with Josh Awotunde claiming bronze.

Kovacs, 33, threw a season-best 22.89 meters on his fifth attempt to take the finals lead. But Crouser responded with a meet-record 22.94 to reclaim the top spot with one throw remaining.

It eventually held, and Crouser, an Oregon native, claimed that elusive first world title by five centimeters over Kovacs.

Kovacs has been one of the U.S. team's great stories of the past five years. The Nazareth, Pa., native, who had won the 2015 world title, nearly quit the shot put in 2018. He went so far as to begin conducting online job searches to start a new career.

But his wife Ashley, now the associate head coach of the Vanderbilt women's track & field team, wouldn't let him quit. Ashley became Joe's coach in 2018 (they married that November) and guided him through a new training process, restoring his confidence and passion for the sport.

Kovacs went on to win the 2019 world title with a career-best throw of 22.91 meters on his last attempt, defeating Crouser by one centimeter in what the throwing community called the greatest shot-put competition in history.

The two nearly matched that duel Sunday. Kovacs took the lead on his first throw, a distance of 22.63 that merely got the competition started. Crouser reclaimed the lead on his second attempt (22.71), which held until Kovacs went long on his fifth attempt. The 22.89 was just two centimeters off his world-championship throw in 2019.

Kovacs has taken either first or second in the last six major world events. He won world titles in 2015 and 2019, placed second at the 2017 world championships and claimed silver at the past two Olympics.

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