Men's shot put world record progression

Ralph Rose, American shot putter

The first world record in the men's shot put was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the 15.54 m performance by Ralph Rose in 1909. ^[1]

As of June 21, 2009, 51 world records had been ratified by the IAAF in the event. ^[1] The distances by these men were accomplished with a 16-pound shot. Rose's 1909 record lasted almost 19 years, and the record was untouched for almost a dozen years surrounding World War II. The record was improved upon five times in 1960 and four times in 1934. The record set in 1990 held for over 31 years before it was broken in 2021. The current world record was set in 2023. Since 1954, marks set in Los Angeles have stood for 42 of those years and counting.

World record progression

	Ratified
	Not ratified
	Ratified but later rescinded
	Pending ratification

Indoor

Only records since Günthör's 22.26 m in 1987 were ratified by the IAAF. ^[2]

Men's shot put indoor world record progression

Mark	Athlete	Date	Location
12.79 m (41 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	Charles Queckberner  (USA)	9 April 1887	New York
13.03 m (42 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	George Gray  (CAN)	19 November 1887	New York
13.07 m (42 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	James Mitchell  (USA)	15 February 1890	Boston
13.10 m (42 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	C.H. Robinson  (USA)	1 February 1903	New York
14.27 m (46 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	Harry Le Moyne  (USA)	8 March 1904	New York
14.98 m (49 ft 1+3⁄4 in)	Wesley Coe  (USA)	25 February 1905	Medford, Massachusetts
15.41 m (50 ft 6+1⁄2 in)	John Kuck  (USA)	27 February 1926	Champaign
15.43 m (50 ft 7+1⁄4 in)	Herbert Schwarze  (USA)	6 March 1926	Chicago
15.47 m (50 ft 9 in)	Emil Hirschfeld  (GER)	2 March 1929	Frankfurt
15.56 m (51 ft 1⁄2 in)	Harlow Rothert  (USA)	28 March 1929	Seattle
15.56 m (51 ft 1⁄2 in)	Emil Hirschfeld  (GER)	8 March 1930	Frankfurt
15.61 m (51 ft 2+1⁄2 in)	Herman Brix  (USA)	18 March 1930	New York
15.82 m (51 ft 10+3⁄4 in)	Leo Sexton  (USA)	13 February 1932	Boston
16.06 m (52 ft 8+1⁄4 in)	Leo Sexton  (USA)	17 February 1932	New York
16.19 m (53 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Jack Torrance  (USA)	25 February 1935	Charlotte
16.25 m (53 ft 3+3⁄4 in)	Francis Ryan  (USA)	17 February 1940	New York
16.36 m (53 ft 8 in)	Alfred Blozis  (USA)	17 February 1940	New York
16.98 m (55 ft 8+1⁄2 in)	Alfred Blozis  (USA)	24 February 1940	New York
17.08 m (56 ft 1⁄4 in)	Alfred Blozis  (USA)	21 June 1940	Minneapolis
17.22 m (56 ft 5+3⁄4 in)	Alfred Blozis  (USA)	1 March 1941	New York
17.23 m (56 ft 6+1⁄4 in)	Charles Fonville  (USA)	7 February 1948	East Lansing
17.34 m (56 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Charles Fonville  (USA)	21 February 1948	Ann Arbor
17.54 m (57 ft 6+1⁄2 in)	James Fuchs  (USA)	4 February 1950	Boston
17.57 m (57 ft 7+1⁄2 in)	James Fuchs  (USA)	11 February 1950	New York
17.77 m (58 ft 3+1⁄2 in)	James Fuchs  (USA)	10 February 1951	New York
18.08 m (59 ft 3+3⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	20 February 1954	New York
18.12 m (59 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	19 February 1955	New York
18.21 m (59 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	11 February 1956	New York
18.72 m (61 ft 5 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	18 February 1956	New York
18.81 m (61 ft 8+1⁄2 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	8 February 1958	Frankfurt
18.93 m (62 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	21 February 1959	New York
19.02 m (62 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	12 March 1960	Milwaukee
19.24 m (63 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	21 January 1961	Los Angeles
19.46 m (63 ft 10 in)	Gary Gubner  (USA)	2 February 1962	New York
19.77 m (64 ft 10+1⁄4 in)	Gary Gubner  (USA)	16 February 1962	New York
19.80 m (64 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	Gary Gubner  (USA)	16 February 1962	New York
20.02 m (65 ft 8 in)	Randy Matson  (USA)	12 February 1965	Fort Worth
20.17 m (66 ft 2 in)	Randy Matson  (USA)	13 February 1965	Dallas
20.29 m (66 ft 6+3⁄4 in)	Neal Steinhauer  (USA)	7 January 1967	San Francisco
20.37 m (66 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	Neal Steinhauer  (USA)	28 January 1967	Portland
20.60 m (67 ft 7 in)	Neal Steinhauer  (USA)	28 January 1967	Portland
20.67 m (67 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	Neal Steinhauer  (USA)	28 January 1967	Portland
20.97 m (68 ft 9+1⁄2 in)	Randy Matson  (USA)	10 February 1967	Fort Worth
21.08 m (69 ft 1+3⁄4 in)	Randy Matson  (USA)	10 February 1967	Fort Worth
21.15 m (69 ft 4+1⁄2 in)	Al Feuerbach  (USA)	5 February 1972	Pocatello
21.17 m (69 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	Al Feuerbach  (USA)	27 January 1973	Portland
21.27 m (69 ft 9+1⁄4 in)	George Woods  (USA)	23 February 1973	New York
21.30 m (69 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	George Woods  (USA)	26 January 1974	Portland
21.45 m (70 ft 4+1⁄4 in)	George Woods  (USA)	1 February 1974	San Francisco
21.47 m (70 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	George Woods  (USA)	8 February 1974	Inglewood
21.56 m (70 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	George Woods  (USA)	8 February 1974	Inglewood
22.02 m (72 ft 2+3⁄4 in)	George Woods  (USA)	8 February 1974	Inglewood
22.15 m (72 ft 8 in)	Ulf Timmermann  (GDR)	16 February 1985	Senftenberg
22.26 m (73 ft 1⁄4 in)	Werner Günthör  (SUI)	8 February 1987	Magglingen
22.66 m (74 ft 4 in)	Randy Barnes  (USA)	20 January 1989	Los Angeles
22.82 m (74 ft 10+1⁄4 in)	Ryan Crouser  (USA)	24 January 2021	Fayetteville, AR

Outdoor

Mark	Athlete	Date	Location
15.54 m	Ralph Rose  (USA)	21 August 1909	San Francisco, U.S. [1]
15.79 m	Emil Hirschfeld  (GER)	6 May 1928	Breslau, Germany [1]
15.87 m	John Kuck  (USA)	29 July 1928	Amsterdam, Netherlands [1]
16.04 m	Emil Hirschfeld (GER)	26 August 1928	Bochum, Germany [1]
16.04 m	František Douda  (TCH)	4 October 1931	Brno, Czechoslovakia [1]
16.05 m	Zygmunt Heljasz  (POL)	29 June 1932	Poznań, Poland [1]
16.16 m	Leo Sexton  (USA)	27 August 1932	Freeport, U.S. [1]
16.20 m	František Douda  (TCH)	24 September 1932	Prague, Czechoslovakia [1]
16.48 m	John Lyman  (USA)	21 April 1934	Palo Alto, U.S. [1]
16.80 m	Jack Torrance  (USA)	27 April 1934	Des Moines, U.S. [1]
16.89 m		30 June 1934	Milwaukee, U.S. [1]
17.40 m		5 August 1934	Oslo, Norway [1]
17.68 m	Charlie Fonville  (USA)	17 April 1948	Lawrence, U.S. [1]
17.79 m	Jim Fuchs  (USA)	28 July 1949	Oslo, Norway [1]
17.82 m		29 April 1950	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
17.90 m		20 August 1950	Visby, Sweden [1]
17.95 m		22 August 1950	Eskilstuna, Sweden [1]
18.00 m	Parry O'Brien  (USA)	9 May 1953	Fresno, U.S. [1]
18.04 m		5 June 1953	Compton, U.S. [1]
18.42 m		8 May 1954	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
18.43 m		21 May 1954
18.54 m		11 June 1954
18.62 m		5 May 1956	Salt Lake City, U.S. [1]
18.69 m		15 June 1956	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
19.06 m		3 September 1956	Eugene, U.S. [1]
19.25 m		1 November 1956	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
19.25 m	Dallas Long  (USA)	28 March 1959	Santa Barbara, U.S. [1]
19.30 m	Parry O'Brien (USA)	1 August 1959	Albuquerque, U.S. [1]
19.38 m	Dallas Long (USA)	5 March 1960	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
19.45 m	Bill Nieder  (USA)	19 March 1960	Palo Alto, U.S. [1]
19.67 m	Dallas Long (USA)	26 March 1960	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
19.99 m	Bill Nieder (USA)	2 April 1960	Austin, U.S. [1]
20.06 m		12 August 1960	Walnut, U.S. [1]
20.08 m	Dallas Long  (USA)	18 May 1962	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
20.10 m		4 April 1964
20.20 m		29 May 1964
20.68 m		25 July 1964
21.52 m	Randy Matson  (USA)	8 May 1965	College Station, U.S. [1]
21.78 m		23 April 1967
21.82 m	Al Feuerbach  (USA)	5 May 1973	San Jose, U.S. [1]
22.86 m	Brian Oldfield  (USA)	10 May 1975	El Paso, United States
21.85 m	Terry Albritton  (USA)	21 February 1976	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. [1]
22.00 m	Aleksandr Baryshnikov  (URS)	10 June 1976	Paris, France [1]
22.15 m	Udo Beyer  (GDR)	6 July 1978	Gothenburg, Sweden [1]
22.22 m		25 June 1983	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
22.62 m	Ulf Timmermann  (GDR)	22 September 1985	Berlin, Germany [1]
22.64 m	Udo Beyer (GDR)	20 August 1986
22.72 m	Alessandro Andrei  (ITA)	12 August 1987	Viareggio, Italy [1]
22.84 m
22.91 m
23.06 m	Ulf Timmermann (GDR)	22 May 1988	Chania, Greece [1]
23.12 m	Randy Barnes  (USA)	20 May 1990	Los Angeles, U.S. [1]
23.37 m	Ryan Crouser  (USA)	18 June 2021	Eugene, U.S. [3]
23.56 m		27 May 2023	Westwood, U.S. [4]

See also

• Women's shot put world record progression

References

1. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 557. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
2. "Main > Records Progression - World Indoor Records Men, Shot Put". trackfield.brinkster.net.
3. "Ryan Crouser sets world record in shot put at U.S. Olympic trials for track and field: Day 1 live updates recap". 18 June 2021.
4. Madeline Ryan (27 May 2023). "Crouser breaks world shot put record with 23.56m in Los Angeles". World Athletics. Retrieved 30 May 2023.