Delsea’s Josh Awotunde placed 3rd in the shot put at the U.S. Championships Sunday at Ocean Breeze with a season-best 69-1 ¼ on his final throw. He will join Roger Steen and Jordan Geist representing the U.S. at the World Championships in Poland later this month.
This is Awotunde’s 6th podium finish in the shot put at U.S. Nationals, including a win indoors last year and it will be his 5th trip to the World Championships.
Although he doesn’t have the World Championships standard of 69-6 ½, Awotunde should be able to compete at indoor Worlds later this month in Kuyavian–Pomeranian, Poland, because only seven throwers in the world have thrown that far this year and when there aren’t enough auto qualifiers, the field of 16 is filled based on world ranking position, and Awotunde is currently ranked 10th in the world.
They announced on the TV broadcast Sunday that all three U.S. throwers are headed to Worlds, so I’m not sure how that’s a lock yet, but apparently it is. Nobody ever explains these things and good luck trying to find anything on the USATF or World Athletics web site outlining exactly what the qualifying process is. Eithe way, this was Awotunde’s best performanec since he threw 69-4 ¼ at Outdoor Worlds in Tokyo last year and his best indoor throw since March of 2022, when he threw 73-1 ½ at Worlds in Eugene.
Awotunde opened with a 64-0 ½, improved to 66-0 ¼ on his 2nd throw and then hit. 67-11 on his final throw of the first round. After a foul to open the finals, he improved to 67-10 ¼ and then the big 69-1 ¼ on his 6th throw.
Steen threw 71-6 ¾ for the win and Geist was 2nd at 71-3.
Previously at Worlds, Awotunde placed 5th indoors in 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia, with a 71-2 ¼, then placed 3rd that spring at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in 73-1 ½. In 2023, he was 11th outdoors in Budapest with a throw of 65-6 ½ and last year he was 7th in Tokyo outdoors with a 69-4 ¼.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 