His 70-meter effort broke the Olympic record set minutes prior by Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna, a heavy favorite going into the Games.
“I yanked it, it just dropped right out of 20 meters,” Stona recalled the first moment he picked up a discus.
In Fayetteville, he met Ryan Crouser – a three-time Olympic gold medalist and an Olympic record holder in shot put – who joined the Razorbacks’ athletics staff in 2019 as a volunteer.
But Stona had other plans: his fourth attempt on the night sailed 70 meters, breaking the Olympic record set minutes earlier and causing one of the biggest upsets of the Games.
The gold medal in Paris gave Stona “some next level of confidence” to pick up where he left off.
Persons:
Rojé Stona, Stona –, –, Lithuania’s Mykolas, I’ve, ”, I’ll, Stona, Usain Bolt, Aleksandra Szmigiel, “, ” Stona, Ryan Crouser –, Alekna, Virgilijus ’, Mykolas, ’, I’m, Yusuf Dikeç's, Christian Petersen, Yusuf Dikeç’s, Jude, Lance Zierlein, ’ ”, they’re, Stephen Lew, won’t, ‘, Stona “
Organizations:
CNN, Paris Olympics, CNN Sport, Stade de France, Green Bay Packers, New, New Orleans Saints, NFL, Jamaica, Reuters, Clemson, Razorbacks, Olympics, Oklahoma, Games, Real Madrid, Packers, USA, Sports, Diamond League
Locations:
New Orleans, Beijing, Caribbean, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Paris, Lithuanian, Green Bay, States, Rome