Olympics-Athletics-American Crouser wins shot put gold, breaks Olympic record

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - American Ryan Crouser hurled the longest throw of his life to win the men's shot put final on Thursday, breaking the Olympic record and snatching gold in his first-ever major competition. The 23-year-old set three personal bests in the final and his longest throw of 22.52 metres shattered an Olympic record set by East Germany's Ulf Timmermann in 1988. Crouser's compatriot and reigning world champion Joe Kovacs had to settle for second, while New Zealand's Tomas Walsh grabbed bronze. (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Andrew Hay)