Ryan Crouser cruises through shot put prelims in search of second straight world championship

World-record holder Ryan Crouser needed only one attempt to advance to the shot put finals at the world championships, where Saturday night he was set to defend his title.

Crouser’s throw of 21.48 meters (70 feet, 5 3/4 inches) in a rain-soaked ring at Hungary’s National Athletics Centre put him into the 12-man final. The American, who posted on social media this week that he was dealing with two blood clots in his lower leg, has broken the world record twice over the past 26 months. It currently stands at 23.56.

A thunderstorm delayed the start of the 20-kilometer men’s race walk, the first medal event of the nine-day championships. Spain’s Álvaro Martin, who finished fourth and missed the medals stand by 18 seconds at the Tokyo Games two years ago, won the race in 1 hour, 17 minutes, 32 seconds.

“In Tokyo, I felt when I was in the fourth position that I could win a medal,” he said. “Unfortunately, it did not happen and that is why this gold medal is next step towards the next Olympic Games” in Paris next year.

The American mixed relay team easily won its 4x400 heat, setting up Gabby Thomas to run for the first of four potential medals Saturday night. The 200-meter sprinter said she’s planning on running in all three relays — mixed, the women’s 4x100 and the women’s 4x400.

“I’m trying to make up for missed medals last year,” said Thomas, the Olympic bronze medalist at 200 meters who was absent from last year’s worlds after a hamstring injury slowed her during U.S. nationals.

The rainstorm condensed Sifan Hassan’s schedule a bit. Hassan, who is trying to win medals at the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 as she did two years ago in Tokyo, won her first-round heat in the 1,500 and faced a tight turnaround before the 10,000-meter final scheduled for six hours later.

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