Kurikka is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kurikka is 19,733 and the municipality covers an area of 1,724.62 km2 (665.88 sq mi) of which 7.79 km2 (3.01 sq mi) is inland water. The population density is 11.44/km2 (29.6/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Adam McCright Nelson is an American shot putter and Olympic gold medalist. Nelson competed in three consecutive Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In addition to his gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, Nelson won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics.
Joachim Brøchner Olsen is a Danish former politician and former world class shot putter. He was elected to the Danish parliament at the 2011 election, representing the Liberal Alliance in the Greater Copenhagen constituency.
Finland competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Akilles "Aki" Eero Johannes Järvinen was a Finnish decathlete. He competed at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won two silver medals, in 1928 and 1932; he served as the Finnish flag bearer at all three games. He also won a European silver medal in the 400 m hurdles in 1934.
Frans Wilhelm "Ville" Pörhölä was a Finnish athlete who competed in shot put, discus throw, hammer throw and weight throw.
Ville Johannes Tiisanoja is a 192-cm tall Finnish shot putter who weighs 119 kg (260 lbs) and competes for Kenttäurheilijat-58 in Vantaa. His personal best in the men's shot put currently stands at 21.09 m, which he put on 28 July 2002 in the Elite Games in Kuortane, Finland. He is coached by his father Kalle Tiisanoja. Tiisanoja is a construction foreman by trade.
Tomasz Majewski is a Polish shot putter and a double Olympic gold medalist. He is the third shot putter to successfully defend the Olympic title, first European to do so, and the first since Parry O'Brien in 1956.
Conny Karlsson is a 195-cm tall former Finnish shot putter, who competed for Pargas IF. His personal best in the men's shot put currently stands at 20.78 m, which he put on 4 August 2001 in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. He was coached by Robert Malmberg.
The men's shot put at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held on August 18, 2004, at the Ancient Olympia Stadium. It was originally planned to hold the discus throw at this venue, but it was discovered that the field was insufficiently large to accommodate the range of modern discus throwers, and would have posed a danger to spectators. As such, it was decided instead to hold the shot put at the site, despite the fact that the shot put was not contested at the Ancient Olympic Games. All distances are given in metres. Thirty-nine athletes from 26 nations competed.
Dylan Armstrong is a Canadian athletics coach and retired competitive shot putter. He is the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World Athletics Championships medalist, a two-time Pan American Games champion, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion in that discipline. He was awarded his Olympic bronze medal in 2015, seven years after the event, following the doping disqualification of competitor Andrei Mikhnevich.
The men's shot put event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had an entry list of 16 competitors from 11 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was held on Wednesday 30 July 1980, with the qualifying round staged two days earlier in the Lenin Stadium. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 19.60 metres advanced to the final. The event was won by Vladimir Kiselyov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the men's shot put. The Soviet Union became only the third nation to reach the podium in consecutive Games in the event, as East Germany became the second to reach a three-Games streak on the podium as Udo Beyer took bronze. Beyer and Aleksandr Baryshnikov became the ninth and tenth men to win multiple medals in the shot put.
The men's shot put event at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Olympic Stadium on Friday, 22 September. The shot put has been ever present since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games in 1896. Thirty-seven athletes from 27 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The qualifying athletes progressed through to the final where the qualifying distances were scrapped and they started afresh with up to six throws. The event was won by Arsi Harju of Finland, the nation's first victory in the men's shot put since 1920 and first medal in the event since 1936. Americans Adam Nelson and John Godina took silver and bronze, respectively, with Godina becoming the 12th man to earn multiple shot put medals.
Jackson Gill is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the shot put. Gill throws with his right hand, using the spin technique. In 2010, he won gold in the shot put at the World Junior Championships at the age of 15 years, 213 days, which made him the youngest ever male gold medalist at the World Junior Championships. In 2012, he defended his title at the 2012 World Junior Championships.
The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Twenty athletes from 14 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition was held on 21 July at Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The finals were swept by the United States, with Americans Parry O'Brien taking the gold medal, Darrow Hooper earning silver and Jim Fuchs receiving his second consecutive bronze medal in the event. It was the 10th victory for an American in the event, and the fifth medal sweep for the United States. Fuchs was the third man to win multiple medals in the shot put.
Tom Leahy is a paralympic athlete from Ireland competing mainly in category BC2 Boccia events and F32 throwing events. Leahy competed in eight Paralympic Games. He won three Paralympic gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.
Matthias Versluis is a Finnish figure skater. Competing in ice dancing with Juulia Turkkila, he is the 2023 European bronze medalist, 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo bronze medalist, 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy gold medalist, and a three-time Finnish national champion.
Tomas Walsh is a New Zealand athlete who competes mainly in the shot put. He is the current national record holder both outdoors and indoors for the event. His personal best of 22.90 m, set in Doha, 5 October 2019, is also the Oceanian record and makes him the sixth best shot putter in history.
Liu Hao is a Chinese former track and field athlete who competed in the men's shot put. His personal best for the event is 19.72 m, set in 1993.
Ryan Crouser is an American shot putter and discus thrower. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Olympic record holder. Crouser is the current world record holder in the shot put, both indoor and outdoor. On May 27, 2023, Crouser reset his outdoor world record with a throw of 23.56m bettering his previous world record by 7.48 inches/19 cm. In 2021, at the U.S. Olympic Trials he threw 23.37 m to break Randy Barnes's 31-year-old record of 23.12 m by almost 10 inches (25 cm). Crouser is also a two-time World Champion and the World Championship Record holder in the shot put 23.51m, just 2+1⁄2 in off his world record.
