Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

Men's shot put
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Left to right: Walsh, Kovacs, Crouser
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date18 August 2016
Competitors34 from 24 nations
Winning distance22.52 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ryan Crouser
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Joe Kovacs
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tomas Walsh
 New Zealand
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Official Video Highlights

The men's shot put competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 18 August.[1] Thirty-four athletes from 24 nations competed.[2] The event was won by Ryan Crouser of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since 2004 (and 18th overall). His teammate Joe Kovacs took silver. Tomas Walsh earned New Zealand's first medal in the men's shot put (in the country's first appearance in the event since 1972).

Summary

In the final, the surprise find of the season Ryan Crouser set the tone with a 21.15 m on the first throw of the competition. Two throwers later, O'Dayne Richards also set his tone with a big first throw, but his foot went over the toe board. Two time defending champion Tomasz Majewski and his Polish teammate, two time world junior champion Konrad Bukowiecki also had foul trouble. Bukowiecki never got a legal throw in. On the fourth throw of the competition, the home crowd got a thrill as Darlan Romani threw the Brazilian National Record 21.02 m, beating the mark he set earlier in the morning. Two more throws later, Franck Elemba threw 21.20 m to take the lead and set the new national record for the Congo. On the tenth throw, the 2016 world leader Joe Kovacs threw 21.78 m to take over the lead at the end of the first round. Starting the second round, Crouser tossed 22.22 m, to not only take the lead but to become tied for the number 17 thrower in history. Near the end of the round, Tomas Walsh threw 21.20 m, to equal Elemba's distance, but with his second throw of 21.00 Elemba held the tiebreaker for bronze position. For his third round throw, Crouser improved his best to 22.26 m, to advance to become the number 14 thrower in history. After dropping off four competitors and changing the throwing order, Walsh moved into the bronze medal position with a 21.36 m in the fifth round. Then Crouser put the exclamation point on his night's work with a 22.52 m (73 ft 10+12 in), beating Ulf Timmermann's Olympic Record from 1988; the days of East German doping dominance. It moved him into a tie for the number 10 thrower in history. Since 2004, only Kovacs has thrown farther.

The medals were presented by Issa Hayatou, IOC member,  Cameroon and Karim Ibrahim, Council Member of the IAAF.

Background

This was the 28th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 2012 Games were two-time defending gold medalist Tomasz Majewski of Poland, silver medalist David Storl of Germany, sixth-place finisher Germán Lauro of Argentina, and seventh-place finisher Asmir Kolašinac of Serbia. Storl had won the world championships on either side of the London Games (2011 and 2013), while Joe Kovacs had beaten him in 2015 (Storl came second). Ryan Crouser had a strong performance at the U.S. trials, joining Storl and Kovacs among the favorites for 2016.[2]

The British Virgin Islands, the Republic of the Congo, and Georgia each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States made its 27th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's shot put event if all athletes meet the entry standard during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard was 20.50 metres. The qualifying period was from 1 May 2015 to 11 July 2016. The qualifying distance standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Only outdoor meets were accepted. NOCs could also use their universality place—each NOC could enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the shot put.[3][4]

Competition format

Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance of 20.65 metres progressed to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes achieved this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reached the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Randy Barnes (USA) 23.12 Westwood, United States 20 May 1990
Olympic record  Ulf Timmermann (GDR) 22.47 Seoul, South Korea 23 September 1988
2016 World leading  Joe Kovacs (USA) 22.13 Eugene, Oregon, United States 22 May 2016

Ryan Crouser broke the 28-year-old Olympic record with his fifth throw of the final, hitting a mark of 22.52 metres. The following national records were established during the competition:

Nation Athlete Round Distance Notes
Brazil Darlan Romani Qualifying 20.94
Congo Franck Elemba Final 21.20
Brazil Darlan Romani Final 21.02

Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 18 August 2016 9:55
20:30
Qualifying
Final

Results

Qualifying round

Qualification rule: qualification standard 20.65m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 B Ryan Crouser  United States 21.59 21.59 Q
2 B Tomas Walsh  New Zealand 21.03 21.03 Q
3 B Darlan Romani  Brazil 20.94 20.94 Q, NR
4 A Jacko Gill  New Zealand 20.19 19.80 20.80 20.80 Q
5 A Joe Kovacs  United States 19.59 20.73 20.73 Q
6 B Konrad Bukowiecki  Poland X 20.71 20.71 Q
7 A Tomasz Majewski  Poland 19.87 20.56 20.15 20.56 q
8 A Stipe Žunić  Croatia 20.52 20.47 20.32 20.52 q
9 B Damien Birkinhead  Australia 20.32 20.41 20.50 20.50 q
10 B David Storl  Germany 20.47 X 20.30 20.47 q
11 A Franck Elemba  Republic of the Congo 19.94 19.94 20.45 20.45 q
12 B O'Dayne Richards  Jamaica 19.38 20.40 X 20.40 q
13 A Andrei Gag  Romania X X 20.40 20.40
14 A Borja Vivas  Spain 19.62 20.25 20.21 20.25
15 B Asmir Kolašinac  Serbia 19.86 X 20.16 20.16
16 A Tim Nedow  Canada X 20.00 19.72 20.00
17 B Carlos Tobalina  Spain 19.98 19.81 X 19.98
18 B Michał Haratyk  Poland 19.36 X 19.97 19.97
19 A Germán Lauro  Argentina 19.89 19.56 19.61 19.89
20 A Tomáš Staněk  Czech Republic 19.76 X 19.64 19.76
21 B Filip Mihaljević  Croatia 19.18 19.69 19.52 19.69
22 A Tobias Dahm  Germany 19.62 19.59 19.34 19.62
23 A Darrell Hill  United States 18.99 19.56 19.50 19.56
24 B Mesud Pezer  Bosnia and Herzegovina 19.06 19.29 19.55 19.55
25 B Georgi Ivanov  Bulgaria 19.08 19.49 X 19.49
26 A Hamza Alić  Bosnia and Herzegovina 19.48 X X 19.48
27 A Nicholas Scarvelis  Greece 19.07 X 19.37 19.37
28 A Stephen Mozia  Nigeria X X 18.98 18.98
29 B Tsanko Arnaudov  Portugal X 18.88 X 18.88
30 A Kemal Mešić  Bosnia and Herzegovina 18.84 X 18.78 18.78
31 B Benik Abrahamyan  Georgia 18.08 18.72 18.35 18.72
32 B Ivan Emilianov  Moldova X X 17.83 17.83
33 A Ivan Ivanov  Kazakhstan X 17.38 X 17.38
34 B Eldred Henry  British Virgin Islands 17.07 X 17.07 17.07

Final

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ryan Crouser  United States 21.15 22.22 22.26 21.93 22.52 21.74 22.52 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Joe Kovacs  United States 21.78 X 21.52 X X 21.35 21.78
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tomas Walsh  New Zealand 20.54 21.20 X 20.75 21.36 21.25 21.36
4 Franck Elemba  Republic of the Congo 21.20 21.00 20.69 20.76 20.11 X 21.20 NR
5 Darlan Romani  Brazil 21.02 20.60 20.26 X 20.61 X 21.02 NR
6 Tomasz Majewski  Poland X X 20.72 X X 20.52 20.72
7 David Storl  Germany X 20.48 20.64 X 20.46 20.60 20.64
8 O'Dayne Richards  Jamaica X 20.64 20.34 X X X 20.64
9 Jacko Gill  New Zealand 20.15 20.50 20.26 Did not advance 20.50
10 Damien Birkinhead  Australia 20.45 X 20.02 Did not advance 20.45
11 Stipe Žunić  Croatia 19.93 20.04 19.92 Did not advance 20.04
Konrad Bukowiecki  Poland X X X Did not advance NM

References

  1. ^ Men's Shot Put – Standings Archived 2016-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  2. ^ a b "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. ^ "IAAF approves entry standards for Rio 2016 Olympic Games". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics". IAAF. Retrieved 15 July 2016.