Probably the coolest part of the men’s shot competition was meeting some of the throwers in the hotel lobby the night before.
That’s Peter in the middle surrounded by an awful lot of shotputting firepower: Former NCAA champ Cory Martin, fourth-place Olympic Trials finisher Joe Kovacs, two-time Olympic Champion Tomasz Majewski, and World Indoor Champion Ryan Whiting.
They are all good guys, and it was fun chatting with them. Cory said he is training and working as a volunteer jumps coach at Indiana University. He hopes to become a full time college coach some day, so he is trying to get some experience in events other than the throws. He was really optimistic about this season, as he said he is feeling totally healthy for the first time in a couple of years.
Joe is training with Art Venegas at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. I last spoke with him a year ago during the NCAA meet in Des Moines, and at that time he was not sure about continuing his career post-collegiately. But that was before his sensational performance at the trials where he launched a 21.08 bomb and came within 20 centimeters of making the Olympic team. He is very happy with the setup in Chula Vista, and seems likely to contend for a spot on this summer’s World Championship team, especially with Reese Hoffa receiving a bye for winning the 2012 Diamond League shotput competition.
Majewski is a giant, and luckily for mankind seems to be quite friendly.
Whiting has been without a doubt the best shotputter in the world so far this season. He has accumulated tons of international experience over the past few years, and it has given him great confidence. The only thing that might slow him down for a couple of weeks this summer is the imminent birth of his first child.
We also ran into European indoor champion Asmir Kolasinac of Serbia. Here he is with Peter:
All in all, it was a pretty solid linup of putters.
http://www.diamondleague-newyork.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Overview/Mens-Shot-Put/
Unfortunately, it rained like crazy throughout the warmup and competition. These guys are pros, and nobody lost control running the ring, but it had to make it hard to really let loose. Also, the landing area was covered with fresh, thick turf and the shots just about disappeared upon landing. All the guys were forced to spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning and drying the shots between throws.
Here are a bunch of photos from warmups that Peter took from the grandstand.
This is Cory Martin performing a step-around drill:
Here’s Kolasinac:
Here’s Majewski performing a fixed feet glide:
Here’s Joe Kovacs getting out of the back:
Here’s Dylan Armstrong:
Whiting:
Hoffa:
Rodhe:
Martin:
And here are some videos:
Hope you enjoy the photos and vids. Should be a fantastic summer of competetion in the shot. For Whiting to throw 21.27 in those conditions? Amazing. And you know Majewski will be there when it counts in Moscow.
Stay tuned.
by Dan McQuaid
this article originally appeared on the Illinois Track & Cross Country Coaches Association website on May 31, 2013