Delsea’s Josh Awotunde put together a historic performance Saturday, placing 3rd in the shot put at the World Athletics Championships with the No. 18 shot put throw in world history.
Awotunde, competing in his first international championship meet, recorded the three-best throws of his life, including an absolute monster 73-1 ½ on his fifth attempt at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Awotunde finished behind world record holder Ryan Crouser and world all-time No. 4 Joe Kovacs in the first shot put sweep by any country at the World Championships.
He’s only the 11th American to ever reach the medal stand at the World Championships.
The former South Carolina All-America opened with a PR 72-11 ½, nearly a foot beyond his previous lifetime best of 72-0 from last fall.
He followed that with a 71-2 ¼ and a 69-4 ¼ to advance to the eight-man final. He fouled on his first attempt of the final before hitting the 73-1 ½ and then finishing with another monster bomb – 72-10 ¾.
Awotunde averaged 71-10 ¾ on his five legal throws. The 73-1 ½ makes him the No. 5 thrower in the history of the World Championships.
Crouser won with a 74-6 and Kovacs was 2nd with a 74-2 ¾.
Awotunde got a scare when New Zealand’s Tom Walsh – who is No. 6 in world history and has thrown 75 feet – got his fifth throw beyond the 22-meter mark, but his throw was measured at 22.08, or 72-5 ¼, which only moved him from 5th up to 4th place.
Then Awotunde put things out of reach with his last two throws.
Awotunde moved up from 15th to 11th in U.S. history and from No. 30 to No. 18 in world history.
He set his previous PR of 72-0 at the Meeting Città di Padova at Stadio Colbachini in Padovad, Poland, on Sept. 5, 2021.
The only people in meet history who’ve thrown farther than Awotunde are Kovacs, Crouser, Walsh and Brazil’s Darlan Romani.
Here’s a look at the top throws in meet history:
75-3 … Ryan Crouser [USA], 2022 [1st]
75-1 ¾ … Joe Kovacs [USA], 2019 [1st]
75-1 ½ … Tom Walsh [NZL], 2019 [3rd]
73-11 … Darlan Romani [BRA], 2019 [4th]
73-1 ½ … Josh Awotunde [USA], 2022 [3rd]
72-11 … Werner Günthör, 1987 [1st]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 