The men's shot put competition at the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...
in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
took place on October 13–14.
Nineteen athletes from 14 nations competed.
[ The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was wo by Randy Matson of the United States, the nation's sixth consecutive and 14th overall victory in the men's shot put. His teammate George Woods took silver, making 1968 the sixth straight Games the Americans had finished one-two. Matson was the seventh man to win two medals in the event (adding to his 1964 silver); Woods would become the eighth in 1972. Eduard Gushchin took bronze, the Soviet Union's first men's shot put medal.
]
Background
This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1964 Games were silver medalist Randy Matson of the United States, bronze medalist Vilmos Varju of Hungary, seventh-place finisher Les Mills of New Zealand, ninth-place finisher Władysław Komar
Władysław Stefan Komar (11 April 1940 – 17 August 1998) was a Polish shot putter, actor and cabaretist. Competing in three Summer Olympics between 1964 and 1972, he won the gold medal at the Munich Games in 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 with a ...
of Poland, and twelfth-place finisher Dieter Hoffmann of the United Team of Germany (now competing for East Germany). Matson had been the best shot putter in the world since the 1964 Games, breaking the world record twice.
Competition format
The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance of 18.90 metres progressed to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes achieved this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reached the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Randy Matson broke the Olympic record with a throw of 20.68 metres in the qualifying round. Nobody, including Matson, was able to surpass that mark in the final.
Schedule
All times are Central Standard Time
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and a few Caribbean Islands, Caribbean islands.
In parts of that zone (20 states in the US, three provinces or territorie ...
( UTC-6)
Results
Qualifying round
Qual. rule: qualification standard 18.90m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).
Final
References
External links
Official Olympic Report
''la84foundation.org''. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics - Men's shot put
Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Shot put at the Olympics
Men's events at the 1968 Summer Olympics