Special Note: Photos for this piece were graciously shared by the good people of Sorinex. If you'd like to see all of them, you can enjoy here: TRACKLND.com.
You can view a replay of the livestream of the World Shot Put Series HERE. |
The Long Ball
Ryan Crouser's World Shot Put Series |
Words Jeff Merrill
Roger Steen stepped into the ring under grey skies socking in the sweltering South Carolina heat. Hustlin’ by Rick Ross blared over the speakers at a ground rumbling volume and metal gates held back a rowdy crowd from the inner sanctum, vigorously clapping and egging on the World Indoor silver medalist. Steen, head tilted down, stared at the dirt just beyond the ring’s edge. His massive arms at his sides. A shot in his right hand resting against his hip. Moments before, he was waving his arm, yelling, whipping the crowd into a frenzy after challenging Payton Otterdahl to a final throw off using the 15 lb 'moneyball’ (normal shot weight is 16 lbs) to break the tie after 6 rounds and settle the score once and for all. Longest ball wins. Brow furrowed and focused, his stout profile swelling to meet the edges of the ring, he went into his wind-up.
Whip it whip it REAL HARD! |
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Steen blasted the rock past the 73 foot line and the crowd of large humans behind the metal fencing and triangle flagging erupted. They were here at Sorinex’s headquarters in Lexington, South Carolina for the exercise equipment manufacturer’s annual fitness festival, Summerstrong, and as a bonus, were treated to a staging of Ryan Crouser’s brainchild: The World Shot Put Series.
Following Steen’s tremendous throw, Payton Otterdahl, clad in his red, white, and blue Asics kit and decidedly more reserved in demeanor than Steen, stepped into the ring. Otterdahl is a lanky shot putter, at 6 foot 4. He has long powerful levers and uses them to leverage energy from a sweeping spin to a booming release. The crowd fed on the rivalry and in the nature of strongman’s competitions dating back to the hour when organisms first slithered out of the mud and sprouted limbs, the excitement of one-up-manship took hold of the competition and each massive being behind the fence wanted more than anything to buoy the power of the man in the ring to put that godforsaken sphere over the ever-loving fence, red maples and sycamores and into oncoming traffic. |
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Otterdahl rocketed the moneyball damn near 75 ft and took the championship belt from Roger Steen in the second ever World Shot Put Series Competition.
After the final throw, everyone descended from the grassy hill back to the tents around the headquarters building for a dinner of ribeye, grilled shrimp, baked potatoes, and beer. |
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Under the overhang of the warehouse, a gentleman stood holding a rubber-headed sledgehammer in front of a high striker- the strongman carnival game where swinging the mallet to strike a pad sends a metal ball up a narrow column to reach a bell. The sweet sound of which leads to a primal eruption like the ones summoned earlier at the shot put ring. One man hit it 7 times in a row while all around him counted. He became king for 3 minutes, hailed and congratulated by figures of great stature and physique wearing shirts that said ‘Benchuary’ and ‘Squatober’. The man holding the hammer goading on willing contestants stood shirtless in the golden lamplight, his barrel chest and arms covered in tattoos. Across his back was an inked bald eagle, wings spread wide and talons clutching a patriotic shield. Earlier in the day, this man engaged in the practice of plate flipping, where he clutched the edge of a 45 lb plate between his thumb and fingers, flipped it in the air and grabbed the opposite edge. Then, by the grace of God, he deftly flipped it again to lay flat in the air and with the tips of his fingers, reached down to snatch the beveled edge of the center hole of the plate. The act was performed in front of a photo on the wall of the late Richard Sorin, founder of Sorinex and ‘Grip King.’ Richard ‘Pops’ Sorin could snatch a 100 lb anvil by the horn and hold two 45 lb 4-inch thick plates between his thumb and fingers.
The atmosphere we found ourselves in was a true carnival, with feats of strength being acted out and coerced in a jocular fashion while Mexican Lager was downed by the plastic cup and cigar smoke puffed from below handlebar mustaches and beards of incredible length into the Carolina night sky. |
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This, according to Ryan Crouser, is where shot putting belongs. In the carnal carnival of strength. Shot putting in his estimation is more closely aligned with strength than it is with track. The idea of putting a heavy object as far away from your body as it can go is akin culturally to the feats of strength observed at Summerstrong. The World Shot Put Series is the vehicle created to move the Shot Put to this place, and bring the crowds ringside, up close to the action. Down in South Carolina, Nick Ponzio, Daniel McArthur, Abby Moore, Chase Jackson, Josh Awotunde, Roger Steen and Payton Otterdahl made the trek to bring this thing to life, and Darrell Hill joined to bring the energy to the live stream. All believers in the mission, and in the power of the shot. Hill said after all the excitement: “It’s cool to see people realize what we’ve always known about the shot put.” Crouser, himself was dealing with a bit of an injury and sat out this competition, but wore many hats to lift it into the light, playing ringside announcer between jumping on the live stream with Hill, and setting up and tearing down the competition venue himself with his dad, Mitch. |
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Before the pro competition, Summerstrong participants were invited to try their hand in the ring in an open exhibition. Mitch Crouser said that they’ve done these open invite events all around the world, and maybe there is one person in the crowd who can put the 16 lb shot over the 40 ft mark. At Summerstrong, where former NFL players and men and women who live the lifestyle of strength gathered, there were half a dozen who bested the mark. Still, the line between goodness and greatness is thick. |
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Ryan Crouser is the greatest shot putter to ever walk the face of the earth. He is the only man to have ever won 3 Olympic gold medals in the event, won consecutively in 2016, 2021, and 2024. He holds the outdoor world record at 77 ft 3 ½ in. Goodness gracious, darn near 40 ft past the goods who tried earlier. He holds the Olympic record, World Championships record and Indoor World Championships record. He is a 3 time World Championships gold medalist and 2 time silver medalist. He is a mountain of a man. Where WSPS champ Otterdahl stands at 6’4”, Crouser stands a towering 6 foot 7. A pioneer of the sport- his technique is calculated to take full advantage of the space in the ring, which, to his stature, is a more confining space than to his competitors. |
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Crouser believes in the power of the shot. After the proceedings in Lexington, he said that this would be the final WSPS event of 2025, rounding out 2 for this year, the first one hosted at the Drake Relays in Des Moines. With the World Championships in Tokyo approaching, it is time for him to focus on being an athlete. The WSPS format is taxing. Steen put the shot 13 times during the Lexington event. In a normal World Athletics sanctioned event, an athlete might throw 6. It's a testament to the shot putter’s appreciation of Crouser and their belief in the event.
In 2026, Crouser envisions WSPS events to take place in the fall, following the traditional Track and Field season, when the big dawgs can let their hair down a little more and let ‘er rip during tailgates at college football games in front of throngs of screaming yahoos. With the winner receiving a WWE style championship belt, it isn’t hard to imagine the pageantry growing along with the personalities who contend for the prize, and the choreography to match. Think Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest complete with George Shea-style introductions. After all, this is the nature of the strongman. An appearance of jocular bravado, handlebar mustache at the carnival. On the surface, it may appear to some as vain machismo, but that is an unexamined take. At its best, it is an expression of a pure self, an act rooted in a desire to impress in order to belong. |
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The look in the eyes of the impressively sculpted men and women crowded around the high striker and shot put ring is not one of jealousy or spite, or judgement, it is of encouragement. Their strength willing an individual to do a mighty thing and wanting to witness greatness so that they may know it, and summon it within themselves. It is a brotherhood and sisterhood of strength, and a reminder that we are all one. We want our shot, and we want others to get theirs. We lift each other. |
Late into the night while others drank lager, laughed and danced amongst the shining black weights, the greatest shot putter of all time crouched over the ring with a drill, disassembling it for the 14 hour drive back home. |
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Welp! That about does ‘er… Wraps ‘er all up.
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The TRACKLND Team
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