Robert S. Garrett was an American athlete, as well as investment banker and philanthropist in Baltimore, Maryland and financier of several important archeological excavations. Garrett was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw as well as shot put.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, twenty-three athletics events were contested. Altogether, 117 athletes from 15 nations competed. A total of 68 medals were awarded. In many countries, due in part to the conflation of the Olympic Games and the World's Fair in Paris, the media discussed only the athletics events under the "Olympic" name while ignoring the incredible variety of other sports featured at the time.
A tug of war tournament was held on 16 July at Catalan Cross, Boulogne Forest in Paris as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics. The only match of the tournament was between a mixed team from the Racing Club de France, consisting of five French and one Colombian athlete, and a mixed team consisting of three Danish athletes and three Swedish athletes. The mixed Scandinavian team won the match 2–0.
Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris. He was born in Gortynia and died in Corfu.
Sotirios Versis was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris.
The men's discus throw was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 14 and July 15, 1900. 17 discus throwers from nine nations competed. The event was won by Rudolf Bauer of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw. František Janda-Suk gave Bohemia its first medal in the event, also in that nation's first appearance. Richard Sheldon's bronze put the United States in the top three for the second consecutive Games.
The men's shot put was one of two throwing events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. Seven athletes took part in the shot put competition on 7 April. The two Greek athletes both won medals, with Gouskos battling closely with Garrett of the United States for the longest distance.
The men's discus throw was one of two throwing events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The discus throw was the fourth event held. It was contested on 6 April. 9 athletes competed, including one each from France, Sweden, the United States, and Great Britain as well as three Greeks and two Danes.
The men's discus throw was one of six throwing events on the Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The competition was held on July 16, 1908. 42 throwers from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Martin Sheridan of the United States, his second consecutive victory in the event. The Americans completed their first sweep in the discus throw, with Merritt Giffin taking silver and Bill Horr bronze.
The men's shot put was one of six throwing events on the Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The competition was held on July 16, 1908. 25 shot putters from eight nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Rose, successfully defending his title from 1904 and making it four consecutive Games that the event was won by an American. The two-Games streak of sweeps in 1900 and 1904 ended, however, as Denis Horgan of Great Britain took silver. Johnny Garrels of the United States took bronze. Rose was the second man to win two medals in the shot put ; Wesley Coe nearly was the third as he ended up in 4th place, only 11 centimetres behind Garrels.
The men's discus throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third time the event was held. The competition was held on Saturday, September 3, 1904. Six athletes from two nations competed.
The men's shot put was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912. Twenty-two shot putters from 14 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Pat McDonald of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the men's shot put. The American team swept the top three places, the third time in five Games. Ralph Rose took silver, 9 centimetres shy of a third gold medal; he became the first man to win three medals of any color.
The men's discus throw was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty athletes from 15 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The qualifying round and the final both were held on Tuesday November 27, 1956. The event was won by Al Oerter of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and ninth overall victory in the men's discus throw. It was the first of four straight gold medals for Oerter. The United States earned its second medal sweep in the event, as Fortune Gordien took silver and Des Koch took bronze. Gordien became the fifth man to win two medals in the event, and the first to do so in non-consecutive Games. Italy's three-Games medal streak in the event ended.
The men's shot put was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The event was also known at the time as putting the weight. The qualifying round and the final both were held on Wednesday November 28, 1956. Fourteen shot putters from ten nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 17, 1920, and on Wednesday, August 18, 1920. Twenty shot putters from ten nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Ville Pörhölä of Finland, the first time the men's shot put was won by someone not from the United States. Fellow Finn Elmer Niklander took silver. The Americans, who had won all five previous editions of the shot put, including three medal sweeps, settled for bronze by Harry B. Liversedge.
The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 8, 1924. 28 shot putters from 15 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Bud Houser of the United States, the nation's sixth victory in the men's shot put. Glenn Hartranft took silver and Ralph Hills took bronze to complete the Americans' fourth medal sweep in the event.
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 was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Sunday, 29 July 1928. Twenty-two shot putters from 14 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Johnny Kuck of the United States, the nation's second consecutive, and seventh overall, victory in the men's shot put. Kuck set a new world record. Future film star Bruce Bennett, then still using his birth name Herman Brix, took silver. Emil Hirschfeld won Germany's first shot put medal with bronze.
The men's shot put throwing event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place on August 31. Twenty-four athletes from 16 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Bill Nieder of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive and 12th overall victory in the men's shot put. Parry O'Brien and Dallas Long took silver and bronze, giving the American team its sixth medal sweep in the event. O'Brien, who had won gold in 1952 and 1956, matched Ralph Rose in coming just shy of a third gold medal. The two remain, through the 2016 Games, the only men to win three shot put medals. Nieder was the fifth man to win two medals.
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.
