TOKYO — Payton Otterdahl, the Olympic shot putter from Rosemount, improved with each of his three attempts during qualifying Tuesday night at Olympic Stadium.

He's angry at himself for not being more intense from the start.

He peaked with a throw of 20.90 meters on his third attempt, leaving him sixth in the first qualifying group, one spot and .03 meters behind American teammate Joe Kovacs.

Kovacs and Otterdahl spoke after their qualifying round and before the B qualifying group competed. They were worried, but they wound up with the 11th and 12th spots in Thursday's final (11:05 a.m. Tokyo time, 9:05 p.m. Central time Wednesday).

"Definitely, for me, I was missing a lot of my cues," Otterdahl said. "I was not quite bringing the intensity that I would like to have at a meet like this. I feel like there's plenty more left in the tank.

"At this point, my fingers are crossed that I make it to the final. It is strange to have to wait now. It's strange and it's stressful."

Otterdahl and Kovacs were part of a remarkably intense Olympic trials in Oregon, even though that meet, like the Olympics, included few spectators.

"It's just as emotional now,'' Otterdahl said. "We're competing on the world stage. We're not longer just in front of the U.S., now it's the entire world. It's definitely new and unique. And I wasn't quite ready for the emotions that came with it.''

Kovacs said he talked to Otterdahl about just that. "I took it a little too easy,'' Kovacs said. "Trying to conserve for Thursday's final. I should have made this a lot easier. So I hate that I have to sit here and wait. But I mean that's the name of the game, that's how the qualifier goes.''

Ryan Crouser, who won the U.S. Olympic trials, had the best throw in qualifying, a 22.05.

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