Shot put at the Olympics
# Shot put at the Olympics

The shot put at the Summer Olympics is one of four track and field throwing events held at the multi-sport event. The men's shot put has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896 (one of two throws events at the first Olympics, alongside the discus). The women's event was added to the programme at the 1948 Olympics just over fifty years later.

The Olympic record for the women's event was set by the East German Ilona Slupianek with a put of 22.41 m (73 ft 6+1⁄4 in) in 1980, and the record for the men's event of 23.30 m (76 ft 5+1⁄4 in) was set by the American Ryan Crouser in 2021.

Two variations on the event have been contested at the Olympics: a two-handed competition at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, with athletes using both left and right arm putting techniques, and a stone throw at the 1906 Intercalated Games.

## Medalists

### Men

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |

**Multiple medalists**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ralph Rose | United States (USA) | 1904–1912 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | Parry O'Brien | United States (USA) | 1952–1960 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Ryan Crouser | United States (USA) | 2016-2020 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Tomasz Majewski | Poland (POL) | 2008–2012 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Bill Nieder | United States (USA) | 1956–1960 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Randy Matson | United States (USA) | 1964–1968 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Randy Barnes | United States (USA) | 1988–1996 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Adam Nelson | United States (USA) | 2000–2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Robert Garrett | United States (USA) | 1896–1900 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Dallas Long | United States (USA) | 1960–1964 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Udo Beyer | East Germany (GDR) | 1976–1980 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Joe Kovacs | United States (USA) | 2016-2020 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | George Woods | United States (USA) | 1968–1972 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | Aleksandr Baryshnikov | Soviet Union (URS) | 1976–1980 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | John Godina | United States (USA) | 1996–2000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Tom Walsh | New Zealand (NZL) | 2016-2020 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Jim Fuchs | United States (USA) | 1948–1952 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

**Medalists by country**

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 19 | 20 | 12 | 51 |
| 2 | Poland (POL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Finland (FIN) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9= | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9= | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12= | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12= | Unified Team (EUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Women

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |

**Multiple medalists**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valerie Adams | New Zealand (NZL) | 2008–2020 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Tamara Press | Soviet Union (URS) | 1960–1964 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3= | Galina Zybina | Soviet Union (URS) | 1952–1964 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3= | Nadezhda Chizhova | Soviet Union (URS) | 1968–1976 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Margitta Gummel | East Germany (GDR) | 1968–1972 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6= | Ivanka Khristova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1972–1976 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6= | Astrid Kumbernuss | Germany (GER) | 1996–2000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Marianne Werner | Germany (GER) | 1952–1956 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Kathrin Neimke | East Germany (GDR) Germany (GER) | 1988–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

**Medalists by country**

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 2 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | New Zealand (NZL) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5= | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | United States (USA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7= | Cuba (CUB) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7= | France (FRA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7= | Unified Team (EUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7= | West Germany (FRG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 12 | China (CHN) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 14= | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14= | Romania (ROM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16= | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16= | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16= | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

* $^{nb}$ The German total includes teams both competing as Germany and the United Team of Germany, but not East or West Germany.

## Intercalated Games

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.

At this event a men's shot put was held and Martin Sheridan of the United States won the competition. Hungary's Mihály Dávid was the runner-up while Swedish thrower Eric Lemming was the bronze medalist.

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1906 Athens details | Martin Sheridan (USA) | Mihály Dávid (HUN) | Eric Lemming (SWE) |

A stone throw event, similar to the shot put, was also contested for the first and only time at an Olympic event. Athletes were allowed to throw rather than put the implement, which weighed 14 pounds (6.35 kg). Nikolaos Georgantas won the event for the host nation, while Sheridan (filling in for his absent team mate, Jim Mitchel) placed second. Another Greek, Mikhail Dorizas, came third.

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1906 Athens details | Nikolaos Georgantas (GRE) | Martin Sheridan (USA) | Mikhail Dorizas (GRE) |

## Two-handed shot put

At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics a two-handed variant of the standard shot put competition took place. Each athlete had three attempts at the shot using each hand and their score was calculated by adding their best performances for the left and right hands. It featured two rounds, with the top three after the first round receiving a further three attempts with each arm.

Ralph Rose, a two-time Olympic champion in the standard shot put, topped the competition. Pat McDonald, who defeated Rose in the 1912 regular shot put final, took the silver medal. Elmer Niklander of Finland came third and went on to place in the top four of all the Olympic shot put and discus events that year.

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1912 Athens details | Ralph Rose (USA) | Pat McDonald (USA) | Elmer Niklander (FIN) |
