Budapest 23 x Throws Preview: Women's Shot Put
By Kara Winger
Four-time Olympian, nine-time U.S. national champion, and 2022 Diamond League Final winner Kara Winger provides us with her insight ahead of the throwing competition at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Who will be crowned this year’s world champions? Follow along all week for Kara’s previews before tuning in to watch the meet on NBC and Peacock (which will also have some additional streams of field event finals).
Women’s Shot Put
From left to right: Lijiao Gong (silver) of China, Chase Ealey (gold) of the United States, and Jessica Schilder (bronze) of the Netherlands at the 2023 World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Oregon. Photo by Jake Willard
Qualification Round: Saturday, 8/26 | 1:25am PT
Final Round: Saturday, 8/26 | 11:15am PT
I know the shot putters have enjoyed a rest day, or at least a rest session, for the last few global championships, but both the men and women in Budapest qualify in the morning, and have their final at night. On the penultimate day of the entire World Championships, it’s finally the women’s turn!
World leader Maggie Ewen of the USA, Diamond League Final Champion in 2021, Worlds fourth-placer in 2019, had a big PB this season of 20.45m to win the USATF LA Grand Prix, but has been pretty consistent at 19.50m and above since that breakthrough as well. She put on a show at the U.S. national championships, reaching 19.92m, and was top three in both Paris and Oslo, leaving her in good position to head to The Prefontaine Classic next month. The most talented all-around U.S. thrower of this generation, it’s very neat to see Maggie excel in the shot put in the season she decided to also focus on the hammer again, and recorded a personal best there too (a world class 75.10m). She’s someone who has always been a fantastic talent but has had some bad luck at key moments, so it would be very fun to see her collect a first global medal here.
Tied for second on the world list with 20.06m are defending World Champion (the first ever American to collect that title) Chase Ealey, and China’s veteran Lijao Gong.
Chase’s PB of 20.51m, set last year in winning the U.S. title, is just 12 centimeters shy of Michelle Carter’s national record, and her 2022 season overall saw her go undefeated outdoors, collecting the Diamond League trophy at the end. She has struggled a bit this outdoor season, but now has the experience at the international level to put it together when it counts. Gong’s resume is astounding: She has been in the final of every World Championships and every Olympic Games since 2007, missing each version of the podium just once. She owns three bronze, two silver, and two gold World Championship medals, and a complete set of Olympic medals, her bronze from Beijing 2008, silver from London 2012, and gold from Tokyo 2020. In Rio in 2016, she was fourth. Her overall PB though, achieved in her Olympic victory, is not out of reach for Chase and Maggie, at 20.58m. Budapest will be Gong’s first competition outside of China in 2023, not unusual for Chinese athletes and typically a sign that their training has been solid, and they’re ready to face tough competition.
Canadian Sarah Mitton, Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd, and Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo are strong contenders for podium positions this season. Sarah finished a very close fourth (on count-backs) in Eugene, and ended her 2022 season strong with NACAC victory via her second meet over 20m of the year (she’s the Canadian record holder at 20.33m). Danniel’s national record effort in Tucson this year of 19.77m and consistency in the mid-19m range has her in good shape to collect another outdoor world medal to join her Doha silver. Auriol has competed very well on the Diamond League circuit, and boasts a PB of 20.43m, Portugal’s national record. The indoor World Champion in 2022, she’ll be looking to climb onto an outdoor podium after finishing fourth in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
There are other players in this game! Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands had a breakout season in 2022 at the age of 23 to grab bronze in Eugene and go beyond the elite 20m mark. American Adelaide Aquilla has proven repeatedly that it only takes on throw to make a competition good, and has been on the last three global championship teams for the USA despite coaching changes and collegiate graduation. She’ll be looking to break into her first global final after finding her form in the middle of this first professional season. Swedes Axelina Johansson and Fanny Roos can be expected to make the final, drawing on new talent and years of experience, respectively.
A story line I’m personally cheering hard for is for Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands to at least grab a top 12 spot in the shot put. The recent University of Oregon graduate finished fourth in the discus for the second year in a row at the World Championships on Tuesday, and while two global finals aren’t the same as a medal in her favorite event, seeing her excel in both at the world level would be so fun.
This one, again, is anyone’s game who shows up on the day! Maggie looks very strong based on the rest of her season, but she has also seen defeat even with pretty big efforts. The only seasoned veteran in this crowd really is Gong, but Chase came out on top last year, so anything can happen again! The auto qualifying mark of 19.10m is not a distance that most of these women have consistently hit this year, so the first round could take some victims. Top 12 compete Saturday afternoon for medals!