Discus (69.91m/229 feet,

4 in., 1998)

Background

Considered one of the best throwers in history, with nine Olympic or World Championship medals to his credit, John has been at the top of his game for a decade, smashing a six-year-old PB by seven inches in May 2005. “Every year there’s a new challenge,” said John, who won his first world title at 23, at the time. “Now it’s, ‘OK, how long can you stay on top? You’ve been there a long time; how long can you make it last?’”

This year, John has returned to the discus. "It was too much after all that time," he explains of shot putting. "It's an abusive sport. Plus it's nice to have the challenge to get back. I always felt I didn't have the chance to see how far I could go with the discus."

Since earning his first World Champs medal in 1995, just months after winning both the shot and discus NCAA titles, John four times has finished the season ranked #1 in the world in the shot put, and in 1996 became the first American in 72 years to make the Olympic team in both the shot and discus. His six trips to the World Championships ties him for the most by an American man. After the 2004 Olympics he left Los Angeles, where he had lived since college, for Mesa, Ariz., and in October 2004 married Kendra Jordan, who owns and operates a Pilates studio. In 2005, John founded Whole Fitness, a gym in Mesa, where he provides personal training and throws coaching.