A Shot of Glory

Christian Cantwell is the new favorite in one of USA Track's strongest events.

Christian Cantwell was just a kid at the time - a man-sized kid with his nose pressed up against the glass outside the candy store.

After failing to qualify for the men's shot-put final at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Cantwell, then a 19-year-old college freshman at Missouri, stuck around to watch the final. He witnessed one of the most exciting competitions in the event's history.

The top three finishers at the 2000 Trials - Adam Nelson, C.J. Hunter and Andy Bloom - threw personal bests in the sixth and final round. Nelson set a meet record with his throw of 72 feet, 7 inches. The Olympians shook a sold-out Hornet Stadium to its foundations with their chest bumps and frenzied leaps of joy.

"My coach and I were watching a tape (of the 2000 Trials final) just the other day," Cantwell said Wednesday in a USATF teleconference call. "I could hear myself screaming in the background. I hope it's that exciting this time. If that same excitement is there, who knows what might happen."

Cantwell will be the big kid on the block when the shot putters compete July 10 at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. He won the world indoor title this winter and surpassed 70 feet on all six of his throws at the Home Depot Invitational last weekend, the longest measuring 73-4. Cantwell is the odds-on favorite for Olympic gold in many minds, including his own.

"I've got to get through the Trials first, but I always see myself as the favorite," Cantwell said. "My confidence is through the roof."

Four years ago, Cantwell was unsure of himself on the big stage. A walk-on athlete at Missouri, he won the Big 12 Conference title with a throw of 64-6.75 that qualified him for the 2000 Olympic Trials. But he finished 18th at the NCAA Championships and felt overmatched at the Trials against the likes of Nelson, Hunter and John Godina.

"I qualified for the Trials by getting a big throw at the Big 12 meet, a 64-footer," Cantwell said. "But I wasn't really a 64-footer at the time."

Cantwell couldn't control his spin technique in the Trials qualifying round, fouling three times to finish at the bottom of the 25-man field. The following day, he sat in the stands and soaked it all in.

The final was nothing special for five and a half rounds. Hunter, the reigning world champion, led at 71-6.5. Nelson (69-11.5) and Godina (69-2.5) were second and third. Bloom was a distant fourth at 65-7.75 when he entered the ring for his final throw.

Bloom woke up the crowd by throwing a last-ditch 70-10.75, moving into second place. Hunter greeted his rival with a massive bear hug. Bloom dropped to his knees in disbelief, bending over backward like a contortionist, pounding his fists in the air.

"The competition had fizzled up until then," Bloom recalled. "My throw started the fireworks. It was the catalyst."

Godina fouled his final throw. The Olympian team was set, but the fireworks raged on. Nelson stalked into the ring and fired the shot 72-7, moving him into ninth place on the all-time list. Equally impressive was the athleticism Nelson showed in jumping about three feet in the air. Bloom was there to catch him. The crowd at it up.

On the final throw of the competition, Hunter improved to 71-9, a career best but not enough to overtake Nelson. In a span of about five minutes, the shot putters turned a rather ordinary competition into one for the ages.

"There was genuine emotion. It was insane," Bloom said. "To me, one of the best things about the competition was that I got this great throw and the first guy to give me a big bear hug was C.J. Hunter. And then when Adam hit his, he jumped right into my arms. We had the right attitude. It was kind of, 'OK, you threw far, now I'm going to throw farther.'"

Bloom, a strength coach at UC Davis who is concentrating on the discus this year, sees the same camaraderie in the current crop of shot putters. Cantwell is the demonstrative type, as is his close friend, Reese Hoffa. Hoffa threw in the Home Depot meet last year wearing a black mask, competing as the "Unknown Shot Putter." Nelson is know to rip off his tee-shirt before entering the ring. Godina is all business, the perfect straight man.

"The shot has the same atmosphere as the 100 meters," Bloom said. "We're at a special time in the shot put right now."

As was the case in 2000, someone very good is going to be left off the team for Athens. Hoffa, a silver medalist at the 2004 world indoor meet, threw 71-1.25 last weekend.

"That's one of the reasons I'm not throwing the shot this year," Bloom said. "I didn't like the thought of maybe throwing 70-6 and not making the (Olympic) team."

Cantwell expects Nelson and Godina, the silver and bronze medalists at the Sydney Games, to be be formidable opponents in Sacramento. Cantwell is particularly respectful of Godina, a three-time world outdoor champion and two-time Olympic medalist.

"John's the best I've ever seen," Cantwell said. "In high school, he was my favorite. I remember getting Track & Field News, looking at his picture and seeing his results. The first time I ever competed against him, I remember wondering how he ever threw that far. Even though I'm beating him, I still feel I'm not as good as him."

Cantwell's monstrous throws this year might seem like a shot out of the blue to casual fans, but his progression has been steady. He threw 70-4.5 in 2002 and reached a career-best 70-9 to finish second at last year's NCAA Championships in Sacramento. A week later, Cantwell finished fifth at the USA Championships, failing to qualify for the World Outdoor Championships in Paris.

But on his first European tour, the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Cantwell improved to 70-11.25 and won the season-ending World Athletics Final in Monaco, beating all three medal-winners from the World Championships.

The 2004 Olympic shot put will be held in Olympia, Greece. The historical significance of holding the classic event amid the ruins of the ancient Olympics might thrill television viewers around the world, but the gold-medal favorite is taking a more practical approach.

"It could be a distraction if I let it be one," Cantwell said. "The ring's still seven feet, the ball weighs 16 pounds. That's how I'm looking at it."

Before Olympia comes Sacramento. There's some tradition at Hornet Stadium, too, though of a more recent variety. Al Feuerbach threw 70 feet here in 1973, back when only a handful of men had thrown that far. Michael Carter launched the 12-pound high school shot a stupendous 81-3.5 at the 1979 Golden West Invitational. In 2000, the shot putters turned the infield into a mosh pit. And the 2003 NCAA Championships saw Cantwell throw 70-9 in the final round, only to be overtaken by Carl Myerscough's 71-11.

This year, a personable giant from the small Missouri town of Eldon, near Lake of the Ozarks, takes center stage. But Cantwell's no prima donna. In the spirit of today's shot putters, he welcomes any and all company.

"Things are going to get hotter," Cantwell said.