Chasing Olympic gold in the shot put becomes a family mission for Joe and Ashley Kovacs

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Nap time has turned into prime shot-put time around the Kovacs household.

Joe and Ashley Kovacs built a ring on the side of their house in Dublin, Ohio, and take full advantage of their young twins’ sleep schedule. Joe, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and Ashley, his wife/coach, go to work with a baby monitor by their side, knowing that at any moment a practice session may be cut short by a cry for mom or dad.

All those divots way out in the grass are marks showing that Joe Kovacs remains on the right path heading into the Paris Games. He’s inching closer to hitting the mulch at the end of the lawn, which happens to be placed close to a world-record distance.

“The training is the best it has ever been (by) a considerable amount and we’re really excited to see all of his hard work realized in the biggest stage,” said Ashley, who also is the U.S. women’s throws coach in Paris. “He’s looking forward to capitalizing on the magnitude of the moment and I have full faith in him and what he’s capable of.”

A love story

Ask them how they met and their stories might differ. Joe heard from a family friend — a priest named Father Joe — about this woman from a nearby town who also happened to throw the shot. Ashley knew of him before that because they frequently crossed paths when he was at Penn State and she was at Kentucky.

They began their relationship in the summer of 2017 after the U.S. championships. She became his coach a year later and they were married in November 2018. Their twins, Kannon and Kaari, were born in October 2022.

“I used to get super pumped up for practice and now I might be playing with Lightning McQueen (from the Disney movie ‘Cars’), put them down for a nap and then go out and chalk up real quick to throw,” said Joe, who qualified Friday night for Saturday’s final. “It’s definitely different flipping that switch. But that perspective and that drive, there’s nothing better.”

Bonded by shot put

Joe just may be in the best shot-put shape of his career this season. He’s throwing so far that he’s actually threatening the mulch, which starts around 24 meters. That’s within the world-record range of 23.56 meters held by Ryan Crouser, the two-time reigning Olympic champion. Joe, the runner-up at the last two Olympics, feels like he’s unlocked a new component: “Dad strength,” he cracked. “It’s real.”

The couple made some big decisions to get him back to the form he was in when he won — with Ashley’s assistance — the 2019 world championships in Doha. Ashley stepped away from her role as associate head coach at Vanderbilt so they could move back to Ohio and be closer to family.

They constructed their own shot-put ring right next to the side of the house. It’s so close, in fact, that, as Ashley explained, a miscalculation on Joe’s part would be “probably like a $50,000 mistake.”

Friendly neighbors

As for their neighbor next door, turns out he’s a track and field official.

“He said if we ever need him to come out, he’ll put up the red flag or white flag and call fouls on me,” Joe said. “We’re super lucky to have great neighbors.”

In May, Joe went 23.13 meters for the world’s leading throw this season. He’s among the favorites in Paris, along with Crouser, of course, who is dealing with injuries, and U.S. teammate Payton Otterdahl. Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri is in the mix, too, after winning the European championships in June. Fabbri had the top mark in qualifying.

“I think silver at the last (two) Olympics has put Joe in a different mindset than he has ever been in going into a major championship,” Ashley said.

For Joe, it’s all about concentration — between nap sessions, of course.

“There are definitely times when I’m warming up and I hear them making noise and throwing their bottle out,” Joe said. “I’ll be in the back of the ring and I’m just like, ‘You should be asleep already.’

“I’m thankful for my wife because she makes sure the schedule stays in line.”

Ashley realizes full well when the training schedule needs to be adjusted, too.

“I see how well he slept. I see what he ate. I see when he rested, how we went to the pool with the kids and now he may be tired,” said Ashley, who also spent seven years as the throws coach at Ohio State. “It really helps me help him with his training, because I see the full scope.”

Balancing act

They don’t talk shop all the time. They’ve found the perfect balance outside of the ring.

“You look at husband-and-wife teams in business, in real estate, it’s not any different than that,” Ashley said. “We’re collaborating. We’re working together with this.”

The family has gone all in on him and his shot-put career and he doesn’t take that lightly.

“I don’t want to let them down,” said Joe, whose kids will stay home with the grandparents and watch the Olympics on television. “She (holds things up) every single day with the preparation we do — from the food to the kids and especially everything we do inside the ring.

“Being able to have those moments (at major meets) together, that’s what keeps me hungry. There’s nothing better in the world than sharing all these moments with her.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games