Former North Dakota State NCAA champion thrower Payton Otterdahl placed fourth in the shot put at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday.

Otterdahl stood in third place for a majority of the competition, but American Joe Kovacs vaulted into the silver medal position with a clutch final-round heave and bumped Otterdahl down to fourth.

Otterdahl’s top throw on the day measured 72-03.50 (22.03m), as the later rounds of the competition were impacted by rainfall and a slick surface in the throwing ring.

American Ryan Crouser won his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event, Kovacs took silver, and Jamaican Rajindra Campbell claimed bronze with a mark of 72-08.00 (22.15m).

Otterdahl entered the Olympics at No. 4 on the world performance list this season.

It was Otterdahl’s highest finish at a global championship event, improving upon his fifth place finish in the shot put at the 2023 World Championships. He took 10th place in the shot put at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Former North Dakota State women’s basketball player Marena Whittle finished up play with the four-member Australian women’s 3×3 basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics over the weekend.

Australia played seven games in pool play and recorded wins over Germany, China, United States and Azerbaijan. Their Olympic run came to close with a 21-10 loss against Canada in the play-in round on Saturday afternoon.

Whittle, who made her Olympic debut, ranked second on the team with 48 total points (6.9 PPG) and shot 59.0 percent (27-46). She also grabbed 19 total rebounds and averaged 2.7 per game. Whittle’s Olympics were highlighted by a team-high nine points with three rebounds in the 21-19 win over Germany on Wednesday, July 31.

Whittle played for the Bison from 2012-16 and earned a spot on the All-Summit League First Team in 2016. The Victoria, Australia native ranks sixth all-time in NDSU history with 921 rebounds and surpassed the 1,000 career points mark with 1,315 points over four seasons.

NDSU’s Summer Olympians List

Brad Rheingans (1976, Montreal, Greco-Roman heavyweight, USA)

John Morgan (1988, Seoul, Greco-Roman middleweight, USA)

Janet Cobbs (1992, Barcelona, volleyball, USA)

Tamara Brudy (1996, Atlanta, 4x400m relay, Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Amanda Smock (2012, London, triple jump, USA)

Erin Teschuk (2016, Rio, 3000m steeplechase, Canada)

Payton Otterdahl (2021, Tokyo, shot put, USA)

Payton Otterdahl (2024, Paris, shot put, USA)

Marena Whittle (2024, Paris, 3×3 basketball, Australia)