Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

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Men's shot put
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Randy Matson 1968.jpg
Randy Matson
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 13–14, 1968
Competitors19 from 14 nations
Winning distance20.54
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Randy Matson Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg George Woods Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Eduard Gushchin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1964
1972  

The men's shot put competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 13–14. [1] Nineteen athletes from 14 nations competed. [2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was wo by Randy Matson of the United States, the nation's sixth consecutive and 14th overall victory in the men's shot put. His teammate George Woods took silver, making 1968 the sixth straight Games the Americans had finished one-two. Matson was the seventh man to win two medals in the event (adding to his 1964 silver); Woods would become the eighth in 1972. Eduard Gushchin took bronze, the Soviet Union's first men's shot put medal.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1964 Games were silver medalist Randy Matson of the United States, bronze medalist Vilmos Varju of Hungary, seventh-place finisher Les Mills of New Zealand, ninth-place finisher Władysław Komar of Poland, and twelfth-place finisher Dieter Hoffmann of the United Team of Germany (now competing for East Germany). Matson had been the best shot putter in the world since the 1964 Games, breaking the world record twice. [2]

El Salvador and Nicaragua each made their debut in the men's shot put; East Germany and West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States appeared for the 16th time, the only nation to have competed in all Olympic shot put competitions to date.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance of 18.90 metres progressed to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes achieved this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reached the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Randy Matson  (USA)21.78 College Station, United States 23 April 1967
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Dallas Long  (USA)20.33 Tokyo, Japan 17 October 1964

Randy Matson broke the Olympic record with a throw of 20.68 metres in the qualifying round. Nobody, including Matson, was able to surpass that mark in the final.

Schedule

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 13 October 196810:00Qualifying
Monday, 14 October 196815:30Final

Results

Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 18.90m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

RankGroupAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1A Randy Matson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 20.6820.68Q, OR
2A Eduard Gushchin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 19.8819.88Q
3A George Woods Flag of the United States.svg  United States 19.7919.79Q
4A Dieter Hoffmann Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 18.3019.7519.75Q
5B Pierre Colnard Flag of France.svg  France 19.5719.57Q
6A Heinfried Birlenbach Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 19.4319.43Q
7A Dave Maggard Flag of the United States.svg  United States 18.7319.2619.26Q
8A Uwe Grabe Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 18.0818.5919.1519.15Q
9A Władysław Komar Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 19.0919.09Q
10A Traugott Glöckler Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 18.8919.0819.08Q
11B Les Mills Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 18.5619.0019.00Q
12B Jeff Teale Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 18.76X18.8718.87q
13A Vilmos Varjú Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 18.69X18.8618.86
14B Arnjolt Beer Flag of France.svg  France 18.72XX18.72
15B Edy Hubacher Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 18.5418.38X18.54
16B Guðmundur Hermannsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 16.2416.7717.3517.35
17B Georgios Lemonis Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 16.43XX16.43
18B Rolando Mendoza Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 11.3913.3313.3213.33
19B Mauricio Jubis Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 12.0412.4612.9212.92
B Lahcen Samsam Akka Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNS
B Ricky Bruch Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNS
B Jalal Keshmiri State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran DNS
ADieter ProlliusFlag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany DNS
A George Puce Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada DNS

Final

RankAthleteNation123456Distance
Gold medal icon.svg Randy Matson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 20.5420.0918.6720.1520.0220.1820.54
Silver medal icon.svg George Woods Flag of the United States.svg  United States 20.12XX19.19X20.12
Bronze medal icon.svg Eduard Gushchin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 20.0919.4519.69XX19.4120.09
4 Dieter Hoffmann Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 20.0019.3319.7519.6819.8519.8620.00
5 Dave Maggard Flag of the United States.svg  United States 19.4319.3319.7519.6819.8519.8619.43
6 Władysław Komar Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 18.6619.2818.54XX19.2119.28
7 Uwe Grabe Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 18.2018.7419.0317.4317.6618.3419.03
8 Heinfried Birlenbach Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 18.8018.48X18.1318.67X18.80
9 Pierre Colnard Flag of France.svg  France 18.62X18.79Did not advance18.79
10 Jeff Teale Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 18.6518.5718.60Did not advance18.65
11 Les Mills Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 18.1818.0117.95Did not advance18.18
12 Traugott Glöckler Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany X17.2018.14Did not advance18.14

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 October 2020.