John Carl Godina (born May 31, 1972) is an American

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 ...

ter, whose record includes three

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

wins and two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medals. He also competes in discus. Godina was born in

Fort Sill, Oklahoma Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

High school years

While attending

Cheyenne Central High School Cheyenne Central High School is a public secondary school (grades 9-12) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States. It serves Laramie County School District #1. The high school serves students who attended McCormick JHS, Clawson ES, Davis ES, ...

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

, Godina was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and outdoor track and field. He was an All-State honoree, and an All-American in both sports.

College years and Olympic Games

At college level, competing for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, he won three outdoor

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championship victories, two in discus and one in shot put. His 1995 NCAA Outdoor shot put title was a national record with a throw of 22.00 meters (72'2.25"). In 1995, he won his first World Championship title in shot put, adding additional titles in 1997, and 2001. In the same discipline, he finished second in the

1996 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, ...

and third in the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He also qualified to those same Olympics in the Discus, the first American to qualify in both since

Bud Houser Lemuel Clarence "Bud" Houser (September 25, 1901 – October 1, 1994) was an American field athlete. He won Olympic gold medals in the discus throw in 1924 and 1928 and in the shot put in 1924. Biography Houser was born in Winigan, Missouri, b ...

in 1924 and he finished 8th in the 2004 Olympics in the Shot Put. He retired in 2009 after suffering through injuries at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Godina is one of the most decorated shot putters in U.S.

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

history. His legacy compares well with

Parry O'Brien William Patrick "Parry" O'Brien (January 28, 1932 – April 21, 2007) was an American shot put champion. He competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals (1952, 1956) and one silver medal (1960). In his last Olympic c ...

, who won two Olympic gold medals (1952, 1956) and one silver medal (1960), placed fourth in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, and broke the world record 17 times. He was coached by Art Venegas, widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the world and the only coach to have athletes reach 73' with both the glide and rotational techniques in the shot put. Godina was named to the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame in 2010. His coach Art Venegas was named to the Hall in 2011. He was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

in 2005.

World Throws Center

John has a throwing academy in five different locations, two in California (Sacramento and San Ramon). The other three are located in Arizona (

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

). Godina trains top international athletes like

Vikas Gowda Vikas Shive Gowda (born 5 July 1983) is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter. Born in Mysore, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His father, Shive Gowda, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padm ...

Suzy Powell Suzanne "Suzy" Powell-Roos (born September 3, 1976) is an American discus thrower. She competed at the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympics with the best result of 15th place in 2000. She holds the American record at 222 ft 0 in (67.67 m), which s ...

and Dan Taylor.

Achievements

References

External links

John Godina's U.S. Olympic Team bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godina, John 1972 births Living people American male discus throwers American male shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field People from Fort Sill, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Track and field athletes from Wyoming Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games