Medford's Jaida Ross competes in the women's shot put at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in France.

Amanda Krug was as stressed as any parent could be with a daughter on the grandest stage of her life Friday morning.

Friends and family members gradually began to fill up the TV viewing area for a watch party hosted by Krug at Lava Lanes, and the buzz and anxiety of the moment was palpable.

Fortunately, the star of the show on this day — Medford’s Jaida Ross — was the embodiment of calm and confidence at the Stade de France.

Making her Olympic debut in Saint-Denis, France, the 22-year-old Ross uncorked a throw of 19.28 meters (63 feet, 3 inches) on her first throw of the finals in the shot put and wound up riding that mark to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games.

Ross was the highest finisher for the United States team, and barely missed out on a bronze medal when China’s Song Jiayuan went 19.32 meters (63-4.75) on the fourth of her six attempts.

Germany’s Uemisi Ogunleye won the gold medal when her final throw went exactly 20 meters (65-7.5) to surpass New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche, who settled for the silver medal at 19.86 meters (65-2).

“It’s exciting and I’m honored to be part of her journey,” said Piet Voskes, who was Ross’ head track and field coach when she competed at North Medford High and has followed her journey at every step since. “I have so much respect for the work she put in. This is a young lady that’s only 22 and is fourth in the world, so with her upside and vision for herself, she’s just beginning her professional career.”

“I think we’re just all privileged to be in her orbit and know her and be able to celebrate alongside her family and friends and witness this,” he added. “She’s made Medford proud.”

Ross, who qualified third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, was eighth overall after the Olympic qualifying rounds Thursday and the first to throw in Friday’s finals, which opened with wet and slippery conditions but was of no concern for the Oregon-based athlete.

During her junior year of high school, the expectation of rain for the state championships led the Black Tornado coaches to spray down the ring so she would get accustomed to the elements. Later on as an NCAA champion for Oregon this past spring in Eugene, training and competing in rainy conditions became an afterthought.

“She’s a kid who anticipates those things and so there’s no doubt that they thought about it,” Voskes said of Ross and her throwing coach Brian Blutreich. “I don’t think it fazed her, in fact it might have been a great equalizer in her mind.”

With poise and determination, Ross didn’t flinch as the table-setter for the event’s finals, realizing immediately that she had put up a solid mark that others would have to chase.

“That was amazing and such a relief,” Krug said of her daughter’s opening effort. “I think it took a lot of pressure off of her. She just did an amazing job.”

Not that such a start was much of a surprise for those on hand Friday given Ross’ pedigree of performance.

“She’s just so calm, cool and collected,” said Krug. “I know that she draws a lot of inner strength and she’s really all about mental health and all of that stuff so she uses all of those tools with affirmations, manifestation and all of the positive self-talk. Her bedroom at home still has all of the things up like, ‘You can do anything you want’ or ‘Whatever you do, just be good at it’ so she’s surrounded by positivity.”

Voskes saw that composure first-hand as Ross twice earned Class 6A state titles in the shot put (2017, 2019) and finished runner-up in the event (2018) with the Black Tornado. She was the title favorite in the shot put and discus (third in 2018 and 2019) but saw her senior season wiped out by COVID. She graduated from Logos Public Charter School in 2020.

In leading up to the Olympics, Voskes said Ross showed nothing but excitement toward her opportunity in France and a focus toward making the most of the moment during their continued talks.

“She’s been enjoying the culture and the travel and balancing that with performance and focus, and that’s hard to do at that age,” he said. “She’s been able to somehow calm herself down. Her visualization and then trying to make sure she manifests that in the ring has been beyond her age. She’s very good at calming her mind down and focusing on the task at hand. She’s had to really lean into that over in France.”

Ross certainly was left to shoulder the United States’ hopes at a medal, with top U.S. qualifier and 2022 and 2023 world champion Chase Jackson failing to get through Thursday’s qualifying round and U.S. runner-up Raven Saunders placing 11th overall after reaching only 17.79 meters in Friday’s opening three attempts. Saunders was a silver medalist three years ago in Tokyo.

“She never has a moment that’s too big for her,” Voskes added of Ross, who became Medford’s first Olympian since Dick Fosbury won the gold medal in the high jump in 1968. “I’m always impressed by how she puts things in the right frame of mind. She sees this as an opportunity, not as something she has to overcome. I don’t know that she was overwhelmed by the moment. Nervous, for sure, but then had the ability to calm herself down.”

Ross experienced fouls on her second and third attempts but still held the No. 3 spot when the field was whittled down from the initial 12 to the final eight throwers. A bit of an over-rotation on her fourth effort led to the shot put sailing wide left and kept her from answering Song Jiayuan.

China’s Gong Lijiao put a bit of a scare into that fourth-place standing in the fifth round when her throw topped out at 19.27 meters.

Ross finished with throws of 18.79 meters and 18.75 meters, with every attempt met with a round of rousing cheers from those on hand Friday at Lava Lanes. Roughly 90 people made it out to the watch party, several decked out in T-shirts promoting Ross and others waving American flags.

Again, that so many people have shown continued support for her daughter was of no surprise to Krug. Jaida and twin sister Jazzlynn were fixtures in whatever seasonal sport there was to play growing up in Medford, from soccer to basketball to track and field.

“Jaida’s like the most humble person that I know,” said Krug. “She never really takes a whole lot of credit and she’s very team-oriented. I mean, her whole soccer team showed up here to support her and a couple of them went out to Paris to support her. She’s got really strong bonds because she’s such an amazing person.”

That’s not to say there weren’t a few panicked moments Friday.

Since the shot put finals were only being carried on Peacock and not the regular NBC channel, onlookers at Lava Lanes had to frantically work together with staffers to get the live feed up on as many of the television screens spread throughout the bar area as possible.

Until the group worked so seamlessly together — sharing Peacock passwords and logging into one TV after another just prior to the athletes’ entrance — it began to look like the crowd would need to hover over Krug’s shoulder to watch her cell phone that was carrying the livestream.

“That was nerve-wracking,” Krug said with a laugh. “I’m like, oh my gosh, they need to figure this thing out or I don’t know what we’ll do.”

As for her daughter, Krug said Ross recently came to the decision that she will continue her track and field pursuits and turn professional — something that was not a given until her breakout run during the 2023-24 school year.

Krug said Ross still has senior eligibility at Oregon and Voskes said he also expects her to transition into a role as an assistant coach with the Ducks, allowing for her to continue using the Hayward Field facilities and serve as a great access point to the 2028 Olympics that will be held in Los Angeles.

“I think this experience probably fuels her fire even more and makes her want to come back and do it again,” said Krug.

Olympic Women’s Shot Put Finals

1. Yemisi Ogunleye, Germany, (20.00), 65-7.5.

2. Maddison-Lee Wesche, New Zealand, (19.86), 65-2.

3. Song Jiayuan, China, (19.32), 63-4.75.

4. Jaida Ross, United States, (19.28), 63-3.

5. Gong Lijiao, China, (19.27), 63-2.75.

6. Jessica Schilder, Netherlands, (18.91), 62-0.5.

7. Fanny Roos, Sweden, (18.78), 61-7.5.

8. Jessica Inchude, Portugal, (18.41), 60-4.75.

9. Alina Kenzel, Germany, (18.29), 60-0.

10. Axelina Johansson, Sweden, (18.03), 59-2.

11. Raven Saunders, United States, (17.79), 58-4.5.

12. Sarah Mitton, Canada, (17.48), 57-4.25.