EUGENE, Ore. — Ryan Crouser's throws are long. His victory laps are really long.
"Took an hour victory lap. I tried to get everybody. I think I got everybody that stayed," he said.
Who wouldn’t want an autograph from the greatest athlete in track and field? Greatest active athlete in any sport, for that matter.
No, Ryan Crouser is not widely considered as such. Yet the man has a case, and a resume. After all, he almost set a world record last year with blood clots in his legs.
He opened his season at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and he effectively closed out first place in the first round of the shot put Saturday. His throw of 73 feet, 7½ inches was better than anyone else all night, and he exceeded it three times, topped by a distance of 74-11¼.
RELATED: Oregon native Ryan Crouser qualifies for Paris Olympics, looks to bring home 3rd Olympic gold medal
The 31-year-old from Boring, Oregon, is going to a third Olympics, and going for a third gold medal. If he gets a third, why not a fourth at Los Angeles 2028? That would tie him with Al Oerter and Carl Lewis for the most golds in a single event at an Olympics, and maybe it would take that for Crouser to pierce the collective sports consciousness.
At Hayward Field, at least, they get it.
"We have such an awesome crowd here at Hayward. Just the atmosphere is awesome," Crouser said. "Nowhere else in the world can I be hanging out 40 minutes after the meet and still have people staying to want autographs. As a shot putter, that’s awesome to see."
Crouser has the four longest throws ever, but he is still not the top thrower of 2024. That would be Joe Kovacs at 75-10 ¾ from last month's Prefontaine Classic.
Kovacs claimed second at the trials at 73-7¼. The other Olympic spot went to Payton Otterdahl at 73-0½.
Six men exceeded 70 feet, compared to a record eight in the 2023 World Championships at Budapest, Hungary, where Crouser threw 77-1¾, six inches from his world record of 77-3¾.
Moreover, Crouser was not sure he could throw here at all. He said he injured his elbow en route to a gold medal at March's World Indoor Championships at Glasgow, Scotland. He also coped with back pain.
"Kind of pulled it together just in time. So big shout-out to my medical team for working with me," he said.
The marquee event of the night was the women's 100 meters, in which Sha'Carri Richardson led a sweep of training partners. Her time of 10.71 seconds is fastest by a woman since she won in 10.65 at Budapest last year.
Only six other women have ever run that fast, and the only one due to be in Paris is Jamaica's 37-year-old Shelly-Ann Frayser-Price.
Melissa Jefferson was second in 10.80 and TeeTee Terry third in 10.89. All three women train in Florida under coach Dennis Mitchell, a three-time Olympic medalist who once served a two-year doping suspension.
"We knew this moment could be possible, as long as we put our minds, our bodies, as well as our souls into it," Richardson said. "We didn’t put the world on notice. The world already knew who we were."
Six women broke 11 seconds. Tamari Davis was fourth in 10.91, Aleia Hobbs fifth in 10.93, Tamara Clark sixth in 10.95.
A notable casualty of the semifinals was Mississippi's McKenzie Long, the NCAA champion who had clocked 10.91 in a semifinal of the NCAAs at Hayward. She started poorly in her semifinal at these trials, and she was fourth in 11.14.
University of Oregon graduate Jenna Prandini surprisingly qualified for the final and was eighth in 11.02. Two other Ducks, Jaydyn Mays and English Gardner, were eliminated in the semifinals.
In the decathlon, Michigan State's Keith Baldwin was a surprise champion with 8,625 points. Zach Ziemek, 31, a bronze medalist in the 2022 worlds at Eugene, was second with 8,516 and 2023 national champion Harrison Williams third with 8,394.
Kyle Garland, whose best is 8,720 points from 2022, pulled out after he injured an ankle warming up in the pole vault.
In the triple jump, Oregon junior Ryann Porter finished eighth with a personal best of 43-6½.
Advancing to Monday's finals of the 1,500 meters were Cole Hocker, Cooper Teare and Elliott Cook. The semifinals were so fast that a time of 3:35.72 did not advance.
Hocker slipped through an opening along the rail of the home stretch and sprinted to victory in the first semifinal, clocking 3:37.89. Teare was fourth in 3:38.26. Sam Prakel was fifth in 3:38.50, and eliminated.
Hocker won Friday's first round in 3:34.54, close to the trials record of 3:34.09 set by Matthew Centrowitz in 2016.
"I thought maybe I was dumb to go that fast in the first round," Hocker said. "Today was reassuring because I felt I didn't even race yesterday. I feel more confident walking away today than I did yesterday."
Yared Nuguse won semifinal 2 in 3:34.09, tying Centro’s record. Cook was fifth in a personal best of 3:34.52.
Contact KGW correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
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