The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the shot—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival (1896), and women's competition began in 1948.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons, the race walks, and the shot put. A total of 46 events were contested, of which 24 by male and 22 by female athletes.
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland, the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic events, some of which were included as exhibition events. Much of the event was played in extremely heavy rainfall.
Svetlana Vladimirovna Krivelyova is a former track and field athlete who specialised in the shot put.
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, and Stockholm, Sweden's capital, hosted 1958 European Athletics Championships.
The 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 9, and September 10, 2005.
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres outdoors and 20.98 m indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
Olga Sergeyevna Ryabinkina is a female shot putter from Russia.
Nadzeya Astapchuk is a Belarusian shot putter. She briefly was designated the Olympic Champion in 2012, but was subsequently stripped of the title for failing a drug test and the gold medal was awarded to New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams. She was World Champion in 2005, but in March 2013, the IAAF reported that her drug test sample from that event had been retested and found to be positive.
The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain from 27 July to 1 August 2010. Barcelona was the first Spanish city to host the European Championships.
Gong Lijiao is a Chinese Olympic shot putter.
The women's shot put event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 16 August at the Beijing Olympic Stadium. The qualifying standards were 18.35 m and 17.20 m.
The women's shot put at the 2006 European Athletics Championships were held at the Ullevi on August 11 and August 12.
The Women's shot put event at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships was held on March 11–12.
The athletics competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held during the last 10 days of the Games, on 3–12 August. Track and field events took place at the Olympic Stadium in east London. The road events, however, started and finished on The Mall in central London.
The women's shot put competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6 August.
The 2005 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 12 and 13 March at Macit Özcan Sports Complex in Mersin, Turkey. It was the fifth edition of the athletics competition for throwing events organised by the European Athletics Association. A total of 174 athletes from 29 countries entered the competition. It was the first time that the competition was held with the Cup name, changing from the European Winter Throwing Challenge moniker it had since its initial edition in 2001.
The 2010 Weltklasse Zürich was an outdoor track and field meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. Held on 18–19 August at the Letzigrund, it was the thirteenth leg of the inaugural IAAF Diamond League – the highest level international track and field circuit – and the first half of the final for 2010. The women's shot put was held at Zürich Main Station on the 18th, with the rest of the events following on the 19th at the Letzigrund.
