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.
Elmer Konstantin Niklander was a Finnish athlete who competed in throwing events, winning the gold medal in the 1920 discus throw and three other Olympic medals and 44 Finnish championships.
The men's 100 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on 6 July 1912 and on 7 July 1912. Seventy runners from 22 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, as the Americans swept the medals for a second time.
Finland competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. The Grand Duchy of Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire at the time, which allowed Finland to compete separately of Russia Russia at the 1908 Summer Olympics due to Finland's special status. During the opening ceremony, Finland's team paraded under the national insignia flag of a Swedish-speaking female gymnastics club in Helsinki. 164 competitors, 162 men and 2 women, took part in 49 events in 10 sports.
Finland competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium for the first time as a fully independent state. It competed independently in 1908 and 1912 as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. 63 competitors, 62 men and 1 woman, took part in 51 events in 9 sports.
Móric "Mór" Kóczán was a Slovak–Hungarian athlete and Calvinist pastor. Specialized for the throwing events, his best results came in the javelin throw, having won five Hungarian championship titles between 1911 and 1918. Kóczán competed for Hungary at the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics. He produced his best performance in 1912 by winning the bronze medal in the javelin throw event.
The men's shot put at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 18, 2004, at the Ancient Olympia Stadium in Olympia, Greece. 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.
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 a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Friday, July 12, 1912. Forty-one discus throwers from 15 nation competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Armas Taipale of Finland, the nation's first medal in the men's discus throw. Richard Byrd took silver and James Duncan took bronze to continue the United States' podium streak at five consecutive Games.
The men's hammer throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had been won all three previous times by John Flanagan. The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912. Fourteen hammer throwers from four nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Matt McGrath of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive victory in the event. McGrath was the second man to earn multiple medals in the hammer throw. Duncan Gillis of Canada took silver. Clarence Childs of the United States finished third for bronze.
The men's javelin throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, but in 1908 it was a standing throw with no run up. The competition was held on Saturday, July 6, 1912. Twenty-five javelin throwers from seven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
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 discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Saturday, August 21, 1920, and on Sunday, August 22, 1920. 17 discus throwers from eight 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 Elmer Niklander of Finland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's discus throw. Armas Taipale, the winner in 1912, took silver to become the second man to win multiple medals in the event. Gus Pope took bronze, continuing the American streak of podium appearances at all six discus competitions to date.
The men's discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Sunday, July 13, 1924. 32 discus throwers from 18 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was four. The event was won by Bud Houser of the United States, the nation's fourth victory in the men's discus throw ; the Americans had medalled in each of the Olympic discus throw events to date. Houser had also won the shot put. Vilho Niittymaa took silver, keeping Finland on the podium in the event for the third straight Games. Thomas Lieb gave the United States its second discus throw medal of 1924, with his bronze.
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 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 shot put at the Summer Olympics is one of four track and field throwing events held at the multi-sport event. The men's shot put has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The women's event was added to the programme at the 1948 Olympics just over fifty years later.
The discus throw is one of four track and field throwing events held at the Summer Olympics. The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The women's event was first contested at the 1928 Olympics, being one of the five athletics events in the inaugural Olympic women's programme.
The javelin throw at the Summer Olympics is one of four track and field throwing events held at the multi-sport event. The men's javelin throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1908, being the last of the current throwing events to feature at the Olympics after the shot put, discus throw and hammer throw. The women's event was first contested at the 1932 Olympics, becoming the second women's throws event after the discus in 1928.
The men's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Thirty-one athletes from 22 nations competed. For the first time in Olympic history, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of an individual event. Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh repeated their gold, silver, and bronze (respectively) performances from the 2016 Summer Olympics. They became the 15th, 16th, and 17th men to earn multiple medals in the shot put; Crouser was the 4th to repeat as champion.
