Kurt Roberts (born February 20, 1988) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He set his personal record for the event in 2014, throwing to take second at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

. He was a late starter in the sport and competed in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

competition with

Ashland University Ashland University is a private university in Ashland, Ohio. The university consists of a main campus and several off-campus centers throughout central and northern Ohio. Ashland was founded in 1878 as Ashland College. It is affiliated with The ...

. He won once at the

NCAA Men's Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division II Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship (known as the NCAA College Division Outdoor Track and Field Championship between 1963 and 1972) is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the Na ...

and two titles at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships. His performance of in 2010 is the best by any NCAA Division II athlete. He was the gold medallist at the

2010 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics The 6th NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics The NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics is an under-23 athletics competition held between the member associations of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association The N ...

Biography

Early life and college

Born in

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,552. The city is near the Hocking River, about southeast of Columbus and southwest of Zanesville. It is ...

,Lewis, Tom (2010-03-05)
Pixler, Braun, Pierre, Roberts, Miller and Thomas Among Division II Region Award Winners

USTFCCCA The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based professional association representing men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization has abo ...

. Retrieved on 2014-03-06. he attended Athens High School and began to compete in the shot put around the age of sixteen. He progressively became more serious about the sport as he got older. He attended

and competed for the Ashland Eagles in

. In his first year, he was runner-up indoors and out in the

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. ...

(GLIAC) and managed third place at the

with a throw of . He improved further the following year to win both GLIAC titles as well as the NCAA DII outdoor title,Kurt Roberts
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-03-06. setting a personal record and seasonal division best of . Roberts achieved the best mark ever for an NCAA Division II athlete when he won the NCAA DII Indoor title with a put of – a mark which ranked him second among American collegians that season. He was only third at the NCAA outdoor meet. He made his national debut at the

2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Drake Stadium, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on June 23–27, 2010. In order to boost the visibility of this event, USATF sponsored a member appreciation tent at the event and ...

, taking 15th place. He also made his international debut and won a gold medal at the

. He retained his NCAA indoor title the following year, but failed to record a valid mark at the outdoor meet. He threw over twenty metres for the first time at the beginning of 2011 and his mark of ranked him in the top ten nationally that year.

Professional

Roberts began to shot put professionally in 2012. He competed at the

and placed eighth. Outdoors he rapidly improved, throwing and then (the latter performance placed him tenth in the world in the event that year). His put of at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials did not bring him a place on the American Olympic team, but his ranking of fifth overall marked him out as one of the best throwers in the country. At those trials a photograph of him competing, taken mid-throw by Matt Slocum for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, gained widespread coverage due to his unusually distorted face and gruff features. This raised the profile of the athlete, who was still supporting himself by working as a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher at an elementary school in Ohio. Still without sponsor, he took third place at the 2013 USA Indoor Championships, throwing to place behind

Ryan Whiting Ryan Keith Whiting (born November 24, 1986) 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 ...

and Cory Martin. Outdoors, he won at the

Mt. SAC Relays The Mt. SAC Relays are an annual track and field festival held primarily at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, California. The Relays are held in mid-April each year since the first edition held on April 24-25, 1 ...

meet and had a season's best of in May. He peaked too early, as he failed to record a mark at the

2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 20–23 in conjunction with the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Champions ...

. Roberts improved his personal record in February at the 2014 USA Indoor Championships – he took the lead with a large throw of , but was then beaten into second place by Whiting, who set a lifetime best himself. This ranked Roberts second in the world at the point he was chosen to represent his country at the

2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland. Prepar ...

.Turnbull, Simon & Jalava, Mirko (2014-03-04)
Men's events preview – IAAF World Indoor Championships Sopot 2014
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-06.

Personal records

Shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

(outdoors) – (2012) *

(outdoors) – (2014) *

Weight throw Two sports have events that fall under the name of weight throw one being the track and field event and the other being the Scottish highland games events. The track and field event is most popular in the United States as an indoor equivalent t ...

(indoors) – (2009)

International competitions

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Kurt Living people 1988 births American male shot putters People from Lancaster, Ohio Ashland University alumni USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners