Throughout his journey to Olympic gold, Team USA shot putter Ryan Crouser has had the unending support of his girlfriend, Megan Clark.
“She’s been with me every step of the way,” Crouser exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, August 27, when discussing Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport Supplements. “I feel so blessed to have her in my life. It can be difficult as a professional track and field athlete, just with the time demands and the sacrifices. You can’t go out on a Friday night or a Saturday night. She understands the commitment.”
Before starting medical school, Clark was a professional pole vaulter from 2006 until 2021.
These days, however, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences student spends more time studying for exams than on the track.
“She just got her Step 2 exam result back, and it went really well,” Crouser shared when gushing over his girlfriend. “She’s at an exciting time, as well, but she’s also been hands-on in the journey in that she’s helped me as a physio.”
In between medical school, Clark has rolled up her sleeves and helped Crouser with physical therapy and massages. With his girlfriend’s love and support, the Nike athlete became the first shot putter ever to win three gold medals at the Olympics.
“Besides supporting me mentally, she’s actually literally been there physically as my physio and worked as a volunteer for USA Track and Field,” he said. “She’s a very special person, a very giving person, and I feel so happy to have her in my life. She’s made a huge difference for me in this journey.”
While Crouser may not post about his biggest cheerleader on Instagram, he confirmed they have been together since the fall of 2017.
As Clark shares her gifts and talents with her boyfriend, he hopes to repay the favor in another way.
“I had to talk her down off the ledge a few times during Steps studying,” he joked. “The coaching side of me has been there to help, kind of try and life coach her a little bit through some of the stresses of med school. We do well as a pair.”
Relationships aside, Crouser remains hard at work training for his next round of competition. When speaking with Us, the athlete was far away from home and preparing for the 2024 Rome Diamond League.
He continues to follow his strict diet goals of 5,000 good calories and 350 grams of protein per day. He also incorporates his favorite Thorne supplements into his training including the Multi-Vitamin Elite.
“In terms of performance, it makes a difference. It’s more of a foundational difference,” he shared about Thorne’s products. “My favorite is the multi-vitamin and it’s just a well thought out, common sense product. It’s meant to fill any holes that you might have in your diet in terms of the micronutrients. You try and eat as well-balanced of a diet as you can as an athlete or even as just an average individual. But there’s most likely going to be holes in your diet. … I like to know my multivitamin is filling in those gaps if I didn’t get enough zinc or vitamin C or whatever it might be on that day in my diet.”
After making history at the 2024 Paris Olympics, fans would understand if Crouser wanted to sit back and relax for just a bit, but with the Games headed to Los Angeles in 2028, the athlete feels motivated to keep going and end his career on an unforgettable note.
“That desire to do an Olympics on American soil is what has inspired me to go for four more years,” he told Us. “I remember the Olympics in Atlanta vaguely. I remember it, but not the details, because I was three and a half years old, but just the opportunity to experience it would be a dream come true.”