New York (AFP) - There was no men's shot put world record by Ryan Crouser on Saturday at the Millrose Games despite an erroneous reading from a faulty laser measurement device that showed a historic mark.
Crouser was briefly declared the winner of the shot put event with a stunning mark of 23.38 meters, breaking his own indoor and outdoor world records.
But Crouser and meet director Ray Flynn said later that the measuring device delivered a faulty reading and all results from the competition were stricken, with the event listed as cancelled on the meet website.
"Unfortunately, the laser was incorrect," Crouser told AFP.
For a while, it appeared Crouser had unleashed the greatest performance in shot put history on his second attempt.
US national television viewers were told that during coverage and the meet even tweeted out the final results once the competition had concluded and Crouser was listed as the official winner.
It was after that when Flynn revealed there had been an "equipment malfunction that caused a false reading."
Once the error was discovered, the competition was scrapped.
Crouser set his world indoor mark of 22.82m last January at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and his world outdoor record of 23.37m last June at Eugene, Oregon.
