The men's shot put event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. 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 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 took silver, while Oleksandr Bagach 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, then an Independent Olympic Participant and now representing Yugoslavia. The 1988 silver medalist Randy Barnes 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 (UTC-4)

Date Time Round Friday, 26 July 1996 10:0519:10 QualifyingFinal

Results

Qualification

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes 1 Paolo Dal Soglio 19.43 20.58 — 20.58 2 John Godina 20.54 — — 20.54 3 Oliver-Sven Buder 19.76 20.43 — 20.43 4 Randy Barnes X 19.70 20.42 20.42 5 Oleksandr Bagach 20.23 — — 20.23 6 C. J. Hunter 19.95 — — 19.95 7 Roman Virastyuk 19.81 — — 19.81 8 Dragan Perić 19.61 X 19.61 19.61 9 Dzimitry Hancharuk 19.57 X 19.17 19.57 10 Oleksandr Klymenko 19.11 19.45 X 19.45 11 Corrado Fantini 18.63 19.40 19.00 19.40 12 Bilal Saad Mubarak 19.39 19.23 19.28 19.39 13 Dirk Urban 19.39 18.82 19.23 19.39 14 Mika Halvari 19.37 X 18.78 19.37 15 Manuel Martínez 19.12 18.93 18.90 19.12 16 Michael Mertens 18.57 18.90 19.07 19.07 17 Kent Larsson 18.60 18.86 19.05 19.05 18 Arsi Harju 18.56 19.01 X 19.01 19 Giorgio Venturi 18.60 18.98 18.52 18.98 20 Yevgeny Palchikov 18.75 18.83 18.96 18.96 21 Miroslav Menc 18.69 18.13 18.42 18.69 22 Gert Weil 18.64 18.67 18.58 18.67 23 Yojer Medina X 18.49 18.53 18.53 24 Ilias Louka 18.48 17.98 X 18.48 25 Chima Ugwu 18.39 18.35 18.33 18.39 26 Aleksey Shidlovsky 17.84 18.34 18.37 18.37 27 Shaun Pickering 18.29 18.23 17.45 18.29 28 Mikhalis Louka 18.23 18.03 18.12 18.23 29 Khalid Al-Khalidi 18.22 X 17.83 18.22 30 Saulius Kleiza 18.08 18.21 18.18 18.21 31 Bradley Snyder 17.98 X X 17.98 32 Viktor Bulat 16.70 16.67 17.29 17.29 33 Sergey Kot 16.51 X 16.05 16.51 34 Anthony Leiato 12.28 X 13.02 13.02 — Jenő Kóczián X X X No mark Sergey Rubtsov X — — No mark

Final

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Randy Barnes 19.46 20.44 X 20.26 20.32 21.62 21.62 John Godina X 19.91 19.98 20.64 20.79 X 20.79 Oleksandr Bagach 20.41 20.50 20.29 X X 20.75 20.75 4 Paolo Dal Soglio 20.12 20.65 19.92 20.74 20.60 X 20.74 5 Oliver-Sven Buder 20.16 19.92 20.37 20.13 20.51 19.71 20.51 6 Roman Virastyuk 19.46 19.86 20.32 20.21 20.45 X 20.45 7 C. J. Hunter 19.99 20.09 20.39 X 20.25 20.35 20.39 8 Dragan Perić 19.66 19.75 19.98 X X 20.07 20.07 9 Dzimitry Hancharuk X 19.79 X Did not advance 19.79 10 Bilal Saad Mubarak 19.11 19.33 X Did not advance 19.33 11 Corrado Fantini 19.30 X X Did not advance 19.30 — Oleksandr Klymenko X X X Did not advance No mark

See also 1995 World Championships in Athletics – Men's shot put 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's shot put

References

External links Official Report Results