| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | March 3, 1999 Westlake, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Shot put | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | Shot put: 19.64m (Eugene, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Adelaide Aquilla (pronounced ah-quill-ah, born March 3, 1999) is an American athlete who specialises in the shot put. [1]
From Westlake, Ohio, she attended Magnificat High School before attending Ohio State University where she was coached by Ashley Kovacs, wife of Olympian shot putter Joe Kovacs. [2]
Aquilla was a 2019 NCAA outdoor qualifier in the shot put and finished 12th with a personal best outdoor toss of 16.59m to earn second-team All-America honors. In 2021 she was successful in defending the title of Big Ten Conference indoor shot put champion, winning at the 2020 meet with a personal best toss of 17.82 meters, and in 2021 she set another personal best with a throw of 19.12m. She was a 2020 NCAA indoor All-American in the shot with the nation's third-longest throw. In 2021 Aquilla won both indoor and outdoor NCAA titles and she was named Ohio State's female athlete of the year alongside Justin Fields as her male counterpart. [3] [4] [5]
On June 24, 2021, Aquilla finished in third place at the US Olympic trails to secure a place at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics with a throw of 18.95m in Eugene, Oregon behind Raven Saunders and Jessica Ramsey. [6]
Aquilla won additional NCAA championships at the Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2022 and the Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2023, setting a collegiate record with a throw of 19.64 meters in the former. [7]
In November 2023, Aquila won a bronze medal in the shot put at the Pan American games held in Santiago, Chile. [8]
She finished sixth in the shot put at the 2024 Diamond League event 2024 Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme in Rabat. [9]
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the shot—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival (1896), and women's competition began in 1948.
Seilala Maria Sua is a discus thrower from the United States. Her personal best throw is 65.90 metres, achieved in July 2000 in Sacramento, California.
Margaret "Meg" Elizabeth Stone is a retired Scottish discus thrower and Shot putter. She reached the Olympic finals at discus in Moscow 1980 (9th) and Los Angeles 1984 (5th). She also won the 1982 Commonwealth Games title. Her discus best of 67.48 metres has stood as the British record since 1981, while her shot put best of 18.99 metres has stood as the Scottish record since 1983.
Michelle Denee Carter is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in shot put. She won a gold medal in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, making her the first American woman to win Olympic gold in shot put and only the second to win a medal of any color. Carter is the former American record holder in the event with a distance of 20.63 m set at the 2016 Olympic Games. She was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
Ryan Keith Whiting is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and has a personal record of 22.28 meters outdoors and 22.35 meters indoors. His biggest international senior success to date is first place at the 2012 World Indoor Championships. He represented the United States at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, 2013 World Championships in Athletics, 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.
Tia Ra'shone Brooks is an American shot putter. In 2011, she placed second in the shot put at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. In 2012, she won both events before competing at the US Olympic Trials. At the Trials, she placed third in the shot put and qualified to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She placed 19th at the Olympics. Also in 2012, she was a Bowerman Award semifinalist.
Simon Alexander Williams is a male British former shot putter and discus thrower. He was the gold medallist in the shot put at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. He also represented Great Britain in the discus at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Jordan Michael Clarke is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the shot put. He holds a personal record 21.49 m for the event, set in 2015. He was the gold medalist at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival. Clarke was third at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2015.
Joseph Mathias Kovacs is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and has a personal record of 23.23 meters outdoors and 22.05 meters indoors. He won gold medals at the 2015 and 2019 World Championships. He won silver medals at the 2017 World Championships, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. His personal best of 23.23 metres makes him the second best competitor all-time in the shot put event.
Ryan Crouser is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus. He specializes in the shot put, in which he is the only three-time Olympic gold medalist, having won in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris, and also a two-time World Champion. He holds the world record in the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. He set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023, improving upon his previous record of 23.37 m from July 2021. He has held the indoor record of 22.82 m since January 2021.
Raven "Hulk" Saunders is an American track and field athlete who competes in shot put. They were the silver medalist in women's shot put at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, throwing a distance of 19.79 m. They won four NCAA collegiate titles in shot put, both indoor and outdoor, at Southern Illinois University and University of Mississippi. They were a world junior silver medalist in 2014 and the Pan American junior champion in 2015. Saunders finished 11th in women's shot put at the 2024 Paris Olympics, throwing a distance of 17.79 m. They hold a personal record of 19.96 m for the shot put.
Felisha Nayomie Johnson is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put. She was the 2015 national indoor champion in the weight throw. She won two NCAA collegiate titles in that event for the Indiana State Sycamores.
Chioma Chukwujindu "CiCi" Onyekwere is a track and field athlete specializing in the discus throw. Born in the United States, she represents Nigeria. She has competed in the shotput and discus throw both on the collegiate and international levels. She holds the African and Nigerian record for the discus throw. Her personal best of 64.96 meters for the discus throw was achieved in 2023.
Maggie Ewen is an American shot putter. Maggie Ewen earned bronze medal when she threw the discus 59.00 m in Toronto at 2018 NACAC Championships, placed fourth in the shot put at 2019 World Athletics Championships and competed in the women's hammer throw at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Ewen set collegiate outdoor records in shot put and hammer.
Daniella Hill is an American track and field athlete specializing in throwing events. She is the 2018 United States Indoor Champion in the shot put.
Chase Foster Jackson is an American track and field athlete who competes in shot put and discus throw. She won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in women's shot put, which made her the first American woman to win a shot put world title at the World Athletics Championships. She won on the first attempt which, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, made her the first woman's shot put world champion to win on the first attempt.
Sarah Dawn Mitton is a Canadian athlete specializing in the shot put. She is the 2023 World silver medallist and 2024 World Indoor champion, the first Canadian woman to medal in the shot put at either World Athletics global championship. As well, she is the 2023 Pan American, 2022 Commonwealth, and 2019 Summer Universiade champion.
Axelina Johansson is a Swedish track and field athlete who competes in shot put.
Jessica Woodard is an American track and field athlete who competes in shot put.
Jaida Ross is an American track and field athlete who competes in shot put and discus throw. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she placed 4th in women's shot put, and was the 2024 NCAA Division I champion in the event. Ross was the first collegiate woman to break 20 m in shot put.
