The men's

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

was one of two throwing events on the

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals (12 silver for winners, 13 bronze for runner-up, none for third) were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern medal ...

programme. Seven athletes took part in the

competition on 7 April. The two

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

athletes both won medals, with Gouskos battling closely with Garrett of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for the longest distance.

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Fifteen athletes entered, but only seven started. The world record holder was George Gray of Canada, but he was absent; so too was 1896's best thrower, Irishman

Denis Horgan Denis Horgan (18 May 1871 – 2 June 1922) was a champion Ireland, Irish Athletics (sport), athlete and weight thrower, born in Banteer, County Cork, who competed mainly in the shot put. Biography Shortly after setting a world's record ...

. The event was "excessively popular in Greece" and was one of the events where the hosts had a real opportunity to win.Official Report, p. 69.

Competition format

There was a single round of throwing. The format of the competition is unclear; it appears that each thrower received three throws and the top four after that received three more. The Official Report, though, says that "Five Competitors retired after a little while, only ... Gouskos and Mr Garret kept up the sport for a considerable length of time." The throwing stage was a 2.13 metre square.

George S. Robertson Sir George Stuart Robertson (25 May 1872 in London, England – 29 January 1967 in London, England) was a British barrister, public servant, athlete, tennis player, and classical scholar. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athe ...

said that this square "corresponded with no known rules, although the event was purported to be held under English rules." Robertson attributed the short distances of the event to this oddity of the field.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1896 Summer Olympics. ^* unofficial The following record was established during the competition:

Schedule

Results

Detailed results are not known. The top three finishers, and their best throws, are clear; however, after that sources differ even as to who the competitors were. The IOC lists the seven competitors below, with rankings for the top four. The Official Report gives Garrett's winning distance as 11.22 metres, with Gouskos "a few centimetres" behind. The IOC webpage gives Gouskos's distance at 11.20 metres, while other sources give varying distances (Kluge agrees with 11.20, Olympedia has 11.03, zur Megede has 11.15). All agree on Papsideris's third-place distance at 10.36 metres. There are two entirely different sets of four competitors for 4th through 7th: the IOC and Olympedia have Jensen in 4th, with Clark, Hofmann, and Schuhmann also competing, while Kluge and zur Megede have Robertson, Adler,

Sotirios Versis Sotirios Versis ( el, Σωτήριος Βερσής, 1876 in Athens, Greece – 1919) was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris. Versis was born in Athens ...

, and Winckler (all except Versis listed by Olympedia as entered but not starting) in order for 4th through 7th places. They have a 9.95 metre throw for Robertson listed. The IOC does not give a distance for any athlete after 3rd, but Olympedia has 10.00 metres for Scuhmann. While most of the throwing sequence is unknown, the two best throws are specifically recorded. Garrett's winning throw was his first throw. Gouskos's best, coming closest to Garrett's, was his last. The ultimate Gouskos throw was so close that the home nation crowd thought it good enough for a win, and the "official posting the scores made an error and initially listed Gouskos as the winner"; however, the error was corrected and Garrett announced as the winner. Olympedia lists 12 nonstarters, but states (consistent with the Official Report) that "seven of the 15 final entries actually started).

References

Sources

* (Digitally available a
la84foundation.org
* (Excerpt available a
la84foundation.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's shot put Men's throw shot put Shot put at the Olympics