Jordan Clarke

Jordan Clarke is a US shot putter with a PB of 21.49 set at the US championships in 2015. Notable achievements include 2nd placing in a diamond league event and a recent 13th place finish in the IAAF world championships. We recently asked him 4 questions about throwing and life.

Q. How did you get involved in throwing?

A. I got involved throwing in middle school. My gym class teacher at the time asked me to go out for track and field and try the shot and discus and I did. I didn’t start taking throwing very seriously until around my sophomore year of high school as I balanced playing football, baseball, wrestling, and track and field. I fell in love with the sport around my sophomore year and really pursued it hard from there.

Q. What is a typical training week for you?

A. The typical training week for me really depends on the time of season. My fall training I am spending a lot of time in the weight room working on base strength for the season. I put a big emphasis on my Olympic and power lifting movements as my staples. I add lots of accessory lifts and movements, and we’ll as plyos, and cardio. During the fall I do lots of drills for throwing to always reinforce the fundamentals, and throw. During the season I still maintain my weight room training, but at a lower emphasis and switch over to more speed and dynamic movements and throwing.

Q. What motivates you?

A. I have many motivating factors. I am a very competitive person and put a high level of expectation on myself in terms of goal setting. I strive to achieve these every year and push myself to become a better athlete and competitor. My wife and family are also motivating factors.

Q. Who was your childhood hero?

A. My childhood hero in terms of throwing would be John godina, Adam Nelson, and Reese hoffa. These 3 men in my opinion are and were great ambassadors of the sport. They worked very hard, had great success, and were/are very helpful to the younger generation. I have had the pleasure to compete and travel with Reese this past season and he is a wonderful and soft spoken person who has only been helpful to myself and others with his years of experience and wealth of knowledge.

Thanks for your time Jordan! Anyone wishing to keep updated on his progress can follow him at @akclarkeusa90.