The men's

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

event at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

had an entry list of 21 competitors from 17 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Friday September 23, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

Ulf Timmermann Ulf Béla Timmermann (, ; born 1 November 1962 in East Berlin) is a German former shot putter who broke the world record several times during the 1980s, and is the first and one of only four people to ever throw over 23 metres (along with Rand ...

of East Germany, the nation's second victory in the men's shot put.

Randy Barnes Eric Randolph Barnes (born June 16, 1966) is an American former shot putter who held the outdoor world record for the event from 1990 to 2021. He won silver at the 1988 Olympics and gold at the 1996 Olympics. Only three throwers have been within ...

of the United States took silver, the second straight Games that an American finished second.

Werner Günthör Werner Günthör (born 1 June 1961 in Uttwil) is a former Switzerland, Swiss track and field athlete, who was the best shot putter in the history of Swiss track and field. Biography Günthör won three straight World Championships, 1987 World Cha ...

earned Switzerland's first medal in the event, a bronze.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1984 Games were defending champion

Alessandro Andrei Alessandro Andrei (born 3 January 1959) is an Italian former shot putter. He was born in Florence. Biography Andrei threw with his right hand, using the glide technique (at time many elite-level shot putters had switched to the spin/rotation sty ...

of Italy, fifth-place finisher

of Switzerland, and tenth-place finisher

Gert Weil Gert Michael Weil Wiesenborn (born January 3, 1960, in Puerto Montt) is a retired Chilean shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. ...

of Chile. Günthör had won the 1987 world championship and 1986 European championship. Andrei had held the world record until May 1988, when

of East Germany had made the first throw over 23 metres. Timmermann and his countryman

Udo Beyer Udo Beyer (born 9 August 1955) is a former East German track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. Beyer has admitted to knowingly taking part in doping while he competed for East Germany. He was a Stasi informer under the codename "K ...

(1976 gold medalist and 1980 bronze medalist) were expected to challenge Günthör for gold, along with

of the United States. The People's Republic of China made its debut in the men's shot put. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 20.20 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 244.

Records

The standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Games were as follows. Twelve throws by four men beat the old record.

had the first, with his initial throw in the final round of 21.45 metres.

quickly beat that and set the mark over 22 metres for the first time, with 22.02 metres in his first throw.

beat the old record at 21.40 metres in the second set of throws, but this put him only in third place so far in the competition. Timmermann improved on his own new record with a 22.16 metres throw in the third set and then a 22.29 metres throw in the fifth.

took the record briefly in the sixth and final throws, hitting 22.39 metres before Timmermann—in the last throw by anyone in the competition—recaptured the record and won gold with 22.47 metres.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Saipan, Dededo, Port Moresby, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold C ...

)

Results

Qualifying round

Final

References

External links

*
Official Report
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's Shot Put S Shot put at the Olympics Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics