Ryan Crouser is no stranger to Olympic success, having clinched three consecutive gold medals in shot put at the Rio, Tokyo, and Paris Games. However, even legends have their off days. At the 2024 Diamond League Finals, Crouser experienced a rare slip, finishing in second place. Despite delivering his best throw of 22.79 meters, it wasn’t enough to surpass Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri, who took the gold with a personal-best throw. To add to the sting, this was Crouser’s second loss to Fabbri out of their 22 encounters. But what next?

However, despite the 31-year-old’s recent triumph with a throw of 22.90 meters in Paris, and his impressive records of 23.56 meters (world) and 23.30 meters (Olympic), the financial rewards don’t always match the fame. The Diamond League champion receives a prestigious “Diamond Trophy” and $30,000, while Paris Olympics gold medalists earn $50,000. Yet, for someone like Ryan, it seems that these amounts might not quite measure up to the level of his achievements. But he’s considering a major career move that could change everything.

Crouser is making some exciting plans for next year. He’s set to launch the ‘American Shot Put League,’ starting with a soft launch in 2025 and going all out in 2026. But he’s got even bigger dreams. So, what’s behind this big push? Following his final shot put competition of the year at the Brussels Diamond League, Ryan Crouser recently unveiled his new venture: the “American Shot Put League.”

According to Citius Mag, he shared the reasoning behind this move: “The goal of it I think is to obviously highlight the field events and starting with the shot put what I feel like it’s one of the easier ones and using the fact that the strokes are very underpaid.”

He further added, “That’s what made it not to our advantage so to say but using it to our advantage that we can host these quite affordably where you can get top 8 guys in the world that are coming out and competing for $1000 you can’t do that hardly any sport let alone most track events so we’ve been put on the exceptional need cheaper than the competition and to launch that’s a that’s a huge asset.” But what motivated him to start this? Who was his inspiration?

How Ryan Crouser is partnering with the Arnold Classic to make waves

Michael Johnson started Grand Slam Track to shine a light on track and field’s top athletes and bring in new fans with fresh storytelling. Similarly, Alexis Ohanian invested in women’s track and field with Athlos NYC, which focuses on showcasing athletes in a unique way. And Ryan Crouser is aiming to do something similar for the shot put with his American Shot Put League. He wants to create more opportunities for athletes to compete and earn, addressing the lack of hype and big sponsorships that sprinters like Noah Lyles enjoy.

But why is Crouser eyeing a partnership with the Arnold Classic?  Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger also recently announced that the 2025 Arnold Classic will offer a record $500,000 prize, surpassing Mr. Olympia’s $400,000. By connecting with the Arnold Strongman Classic and riding the wave of excitement around track and field, Crouser hopes to give shot put the spotlight it deserves. It’ll be interesting to see if he can pull it off!