Joe Kovacs won the silver medal in the men's shot put at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Kovacs, who attended Bethlehem Catholic and Penn State, had a best throw of 21.78 meters to take second in the event to fellow American Ryan Crouser. Crouser broke the American record with a massive heave of 22.52 meters.
Crouser was consistently dominant throughout the competition. Kovacs had a throw that looked to have gone beyond the 22 meter mark, but he narrowly fouled. His ensuing protest was rebuffed.
Kovacs was the 2007 PIAA Class AA state champion in the shot put as a senior at Bethlehem Catholic in the Lehigh Valley. He went on to win an NCAA title in the shot put in 2011 at Penn State University. In 2015, he won a world championship in the event in Beijing.
Darrell Hill, a 2011 graduate of Penn Wood, took 23rd in the preliminary round on Thursday morning and didn't advance to the finals.
Watch PennTrackXC's Phil Grove's interview with Kovacs this past winter at the National Throws Coaches Association Summit and Compeititon at the SPIRE Institute in Ohio:
Joe Kovacs won the silver medal in the men's shot put at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Kovacs, who attended Bethlehem Catholic and Penn State, had a best throw of 21.78 meters to take second in the event to fellow American Ryan Crouser. Crouser broke the American record with a massive heave of 22.52 meters.
