Ryan Crouser led the qualifying competition in the morning and the giant US putter held his nerve despite not having competed in any international competition since he won the world youth title in Italy seven years ago, unleashing the four best efforts of the night culminating in 22.52m in the fifth round to take the gold medal.

Crouser stamped his authority on the competition quickly.

The first putter into the circle, he opened with a very solid 21.15m but saw Congo’s Franck Elemba reach a national record 21.20m a few throws later. Everyone then watched as Crouser’s compatriot and 2015 world champion Joe Kovacs, throwing 10th in the initial rotation, sent the shot out to 21.78m.

Crouser then went into the circle a second time, spinning around and propelling his implement out to a personal best of 22.22m and that was the last time the lead changed hands.

He improved by four centimetres in the third round with 22.26m and then had a 21.93m effort in the fourth round.

Crouser got a reminder that the contest was not yet over in the fifth round when Kovacs, who had not improved on his first put, had a big effort which could have taken the lead but for his heel catching the stop of the stop board and being ruled a foul.

With the final attempt of the fifth round, Crouser sealed his win with an Olympic record of 22.52m, adding five centimetres to Ulf Timmermann’s long-standing mark from the 1988 Olympics and moving to ninth on the all-time list.

The final round was almost anti-climactic only in so far as neither Crouser or Kovacs could improve, putting 21.74m and 21.35m respectively once a US one-two had been secured.

Walsh continues Kiwi shot successes

Behind the two US putters, New Zealand’s 2016 world indoor champion Tom Walsh matched Elemba’s 21.20m in the second round and then reached 21.36m in the fifth round to secure the bronze medal, consolidating New Zealand’s reputation as something of a shot put haven after Valerie Adams’ many successes including a silver medal in Rio.

It’s worth remembering that New Zealand only has a population only has a population of 4.5 million.

Spare a thought for Elemba too, in fourth place.

He was the right choice to be a flag-bearer in the opening ceremony as he came so close to getting his country’s first Olympic medal in any sport, although his national record will be some compensation.

Getting huge cheers, and not being too far from getting the host nation's second athletics medal, Brazil's Darlan Romani proved to be inspired by the crowd and produced a national record of 21.02m in the first round  – following on from his earlier record of 20.94m in qualifying on Thursday – and although he could not improve, he finished a hugely creditable fifth.

Another man who will leave Rio with a smile on his face will be Poland's two-time defending champion Tomasz Majewski. Indeed, the popular Pole was smiling for much of the competition despite not expecting to be in contention for the medals on current form having not gone over 21 metres in the last two years.

Neverthless, Majewski was just 12cm down on his 2016 best and took sixth place with 20.72m.

Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Six men went past the automatic qualifying distance of 20.65m but pride of place went to the US champion Ryan Crouser, who launched his implement out a massive 21.59m with his first attempt in the second qualifying pool.

The put gave notice that despite his lack of senior international experience, having not gone to a major championship since he won the world U18 title in 2009, he should be a factor in the final.

New Zealand’s Tom Walsh quickly qualified for the final later on Thursday when he sent his first effort out to 21.03m in the same pool, both group A and B operating alongside each other.

Getting as much support as possible from the sparse crowd, Brazil’s Darlan Romani impressed when he rose to the occasion and set a national record of 20.94m with his first attempt.

The other man to qualify by right from the second group was the holder of the world U20 best with the senior shot, Poland’s Konrad Bukowiecki. The world U20 champion fouled his first attempt but then found his rhythm and reached 20.71m.

Performances at the sharp end of group A were a little more restrained.

New Zealand’s Jacko Gill made it two men in black in the final when he put 20.80m with his third effort while world champion Joe Kovacs, one of many putters who don’t like getting up too early in the morning, qualified fairly effortlessly with his second-round throw of 20.73m.

Among the non-automatic qualifiers were Germany’s two-time world champion and 2012 Olympic silver medallist David Storl, another man who is well known for needing a couple of cups of coffee ahead of morning qualifying sessions but who has a knack of getting it together for finals, and two-time defending Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski.

Jamaica’s world bronze medallist O’Dayne Richards, who has been struggling to find his 2015 form this summer, qualified as the 12th and last putter with 20.40m, just scraping into the final ahead of Romania’s world indoor silver medallist Andrei Gag, who also reached 20.40m but lost out on the basis of second-best distances in the qualifying competition.

Crouser's 21.59m was the best ever qualifying mark at a global championships, indoors or outdoors. With 20.40m not being enough to advance, it was the highest quality qualifying round in history.

Inevitably, with 34 men competing across the two groups, there were several men who did not achieve their ambition of making the final.

The most notable casualties were Poland’s European silver medalist Michal Haratyk and Nigeria’s Stephen Mozia, both of whom have surpassed 21 metres this year but who found 20 metres beyond them on Thursday morning.

In fact, no fewer than six men who have thrown beyond 21 metres this year failed to progress to the final, which is scheduled for 2030 local time in Rio on Thursday.

Phil Minshull for the IAAF