FARGO — The Otterdahl watch party in the early morning hours Tuesday had something to cheer about. Former North Dakota State standout Payton Otterdahl finished sixth in his pool in preliminaries and qualified for the final round.
Otterdahl's final throw of 68 feet, 7 inches (20.90 meters), his third attempt, was good enough to grab the 12th and final spot. Teammate and defending Olympic medalist Ryan Crouser had the top throw of 22.05 meters.
Rosemount, MN
Fargo, ND
Tokyo, Japan
Olympic Finals‼️ pic.twitter.com/uen5BPYEAP
Otterdahl qualified for the Olympics with a throw of 71-11 at the U.S. Track & Field Trials . A toss of that distance would have won his pool and placed him second in qualifying.
Because of the pandemic, friends and relatives were prohibited from traveling to Tokyo to watch in person. It meant for an early morning gathering at the Otterdahl house in the Twin Cities, with Payton's group beginning at 5:15 a.m. CST.
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The Olympic finals are scheduled for 9:05 p.m. CST on Wednesday.
