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Posted at August 16, 2008 08:49

The Beijing Olympics have been a real nail-biter this year, but the United States has proved a strong force in the pool, women’s all-around gymnastics, and women’s fencing to name a few. We’ve talked about some of the Missouri athletes that strived at the Trials to make the team and compete in Beijing—Patrick Stroupe and Leah Pierce, but one Missourian made it and claimed silver on Friday.

Christian Cantwell of Eldon, Missouri, finished second in shot put in Beijing with a distance of 21.09 meters in his sixth attempt. Coming in behind Tomasz Majewski of Poland, Christian missed the 2004 Sydney games by a disappointing hair.

Despite his initial disappointment in his performance, his demeanor quickly changed as he saw, through the technology of texting, the excited reception the news received in his hometown.

In an interveiw with KOMU at Columbia before the games began, his mother, Jackie Cantwell, expressed only one wish, "I want my son to win. And that’s that."

 

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