A University of Texas alumni athlete had a stellar week at the Tokyo Olympics as he garnered a medal and broke a record in the process.
Former Longhorn Ryan Crouser won a gold medal, while breaking the Olympic shot put record with a throw of 23.3 meters in winning the U.S. men’s track and field team its first gold of the Olympics. His American teammate, Joe Kovacs, finished second at the event, winning the silver medal.
After winning the gold, Crouser showed the television cameras a handwritten note dedicated to his grandfather which read, “Grandpa, we did it. 2020 Olympic Champion.”
The Tokyo Olympic Games were originally slated to happen last year, but had to be postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crouser said winning the medal was an emotional moment for him without having his grandfather in his life.
“A special moment for me. It’s been a little bit of a rough couple of weeks,” he told NBC. “My grandpa passed away. He was the one that got me into throwing. This was my first meet without him. I wrote that note for him. It was special to throw one for him.”
Crouser, originally from Portland, Oregon, now has two gold medals on his resume. He won his first at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
“It’s just an honor to be here. It’s been quite a journey working through a global pandemic. I’m just honored to compete in my second Olympics,” Crouser said. “I felt like I prepared really well and was in a really good place physically and mentally.”
The Team USA social media squad took to Twitter to celebrate Crouser’s historic achievement.
"History repeats itself! The men's shot put was the first individual event in history to have the same podium in consecutive Olympic Games,” they wrote. “Congrats to @RCrouserThrows and @JoeKovacsUSA!"