The men's shot put event at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. There were 36 competitors from 26 nations, with twelve athletes reaching the final. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event took place on July 26, 1996. The event was won by

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 withi ...

of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and 16th overall victory in the men's shot put. Barnes was the 11th man to win multiple medals in the event, and the first to do so in nonconsecutive Games. His teammate

John Godina John Carl Godina (born May 31, 1972) is an American shot putter, whose record includes three World Championship wins and two Olympic medals. He also competes in discus. Godina was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. High school years While attendi ...

took silver, while

Oleksandr Bagach Oleksandr Bahach ( uk, Олександр Багач) born 21 November 1966 in village of Matusiv) is a former Ukraine, Ukrainian shot putter, an athlete of the Central Sports Club of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During his career he won bronze ...

earned Ukraine's first medal in the event with a bronze.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning finalist from the 1992 Games was seventh-place finisher

Dragan Perić Dragan Perić ( sr, Драган Перић, born 8 May 1964) is a Serbian retired shot putter who occasionally competed in the discus throw. He holds the Serbian records in both events. He represented Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro in four co ...

, then an Independent Olympic Participant and now representing Yugoslavia. The 1988 silver medalist

of the United States, who set a world record in 1990 that is still extant in 2020, also returned after missing the 1992 Games while suspended. Barnes was the favorite, with the best throw of the year to date. American Samoa, Belarus, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States made its 22nd 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 19.80 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. 3, p. 93.

Records

The standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Games were as follows. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

( UTC-4)

Results

Qualification

Final

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's shot put S Shot put at the Olympics Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics