Joe Kovacs

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Joe Kovacs athletics

Joe Kovacs Doha 2015.jpg
Joe Kovacs 2015 in Doha

Full name Joseph Mathias Kovacs
nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday June 28, 1989
place of birth Bethlehem , Pennsylvania , 
United States
size 183 cm
Weight 129 kg
Career
discipline Shot put
Best performance 22.91 m
Trainer Kind of Venegas
National squad since 2013
status active
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
World championships 2 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings Olympic games
silver Rio de Janeiro 2016 Shot put
IAAF logo World championships
gold Beijing 2015 Shot put
silver London 2017 Shot put
gold Doha 2019 Shot put
last change: October 5th, 2019

Joseph Mathias "Joe" Kovacs (born June 28, 1989 in Bethlehem , Pennsylvania ) is an American shot putter .

Life

In his youth, Kovacs played American football at Bethlehem Catholic High School and - under the guidance of his mother - initially ran athletic throwing disciplines as supplementary training. With increasing success, he eventually focused on the shot put. From 2007 to 2011 he studied at Pennsylvania State University . During this time he won the Big Ten Conference title twice .

In 2012, Kovacs barely missed participation in the London Olympics despite a personal best of 21.08 m as fourth in the US trials . The following year he remained under his new coach Art Venegas without major success and only achieved a season best of 20.82 m. Kovacs made his breakthrough into world class in 2014. He won the US championships and achieved a world best of the year with a width of 22.03 m.

Joe Kovacs (center) at the 2016 Olympics

In April 2015, Kovacs increased his best performance to 22.35 m. No other athlete had pushed further since 2010. He opened the Diamond League season with fourth place at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha. This was followed by victories at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City. He successfully defended his title at the US championships. His winning streak was interrupted at the Athletissima in Lausanne by the German David Storl . Just one week later, Kovacs succeeded in the Herculis in Monaco with a width of 22.56 m, the longest shot since 2003. This moved him to eighth place in the all-time world best list. At the World Championships in Beijing he lived up to his role as a favorite and won with 21.93 m ahead of defending champion Storl.

In the 2016 season, Kovacs won the Prefontaine Classic, the Bislett Games in Oslo and the London Anniversary Games . With a season best of 22.13 m, he traveled to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as the leader of the world annual best list . There he won the silver medal with a distance of 21.78 m behind his compatriot Ryan Crouser (22.52 m) and in front of New Zealander Tomas Walsh (21.36 m).

At the 2017 World Championships in London , Kovacs struggled to qualify for the final, but in contrast to favorite Ryan Crouser (also USA), he was able to improve and win the silver medal. On his last attempt, Kovacs pushed the ball well above the 22-meter gold mark, but the attempt was invalid. As a result, rival Tomas Walsh remained in the lead and took gold.

At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, he won the gold medal in the final with a width of 22.91 m, pushing the ball one centimeter further than the silver medalist Ryan Crouser and the bronze medalist Tomas Walsh .

Kovacs has been training at the US Olympic Training Center in his home town of Chula Vista since 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Joe Kovacs  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nick Zaccardi: Joe Kovacs' emergence from family tragedy, Olympic miss to world leader ( English ) NBC Sports. June 24, 2015. Accessed July 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Jon Mulkeen: US Championships kicks off with world-leading 22.03m in shot put from Kovacs ( English ) IAAF. June 26, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ Phil Minshull: Kovacs 22.35m shot put, Kirani James 44.31 season openers ( English ) IAAF. April 12, 2015. Accessed July 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jon Mulkeen: Kovacs produces world's best shot put mark since 2003 in Monaco - IAAF Diamond League ( English ) IAAF. July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  5. ↑ Phil Minshull: Report: men's shot put final - Rio 2016 Olympic Games ( English ) IAAF. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Kovacs, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kovacs, Joseph Mathias (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American shot putter
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethlehem , Pennsylvania