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 second overall) 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 (adding to his 1996 silver).
Background
This was the 24th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1996 Games were silver medalist John Godina of the United States, fourth-place finisher Paolo Dal Soglio of Italy, fifth-place finisher Oliver-Sven Buder of Germany, sixth-place finisher Roman Virastyuk of Ukraine, eighth-place finisher (and 1992 finalist) Dragan Perić of Yugoslavia, and tenth-place finisher Bilal Saad Mubarak of Qatar. Godina, the 1995 and 1997 world champion, had finished fourth in the U.S. trials and was able to compete only as a replacement for C.J. Hunter (reigning world champion and 1996 Olympic seventh-place finisher), who was disqualified before competing.
Croatia, Cuba, Moldova, and Slovakia each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States made its 23rd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had thrown 19.70 metres or further during the qualification period. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had thrown 19.30 metres or further could be entered.http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/ogqualifying_standards.pdf
Competition format
The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 20.10 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in meters) prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics.
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following national records were set during the competition:
Nation Athlete Round Distance Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez Final 20.55
Schedule
All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
Date Time Round Friday, 22 September 2000 10:0018:45 QualifyingFinal
Results
Qualifying
The qualifying round was held on Friday, 22 September 2000. The qualifying distance was 20.10 m. For all qualifiers who did not achieve the standard, the remaining spaces in the final were filled by the longest throws until a total of 12 qualifiers.
RankAthlete NationGroup 1 2 3Distance Notes 1 Arsi Harju B 19.40 21.39 — 21.39 , PB 2 John Godina A 20.58 – — 20.58 3 Yuriy Bilonog B 20.53 – — 20.53 4 Adam Nelson A 20.12 – — 20.12 5 Timo Aaltonen A 20.04 X 19.82 20.04 6 Milan Haborak B 20.00 X X 20.00 7 Andrei Mikhnevich A X X 19.97 19.97 8 Oliver-Sven Buder A 19.96 X 19.80 19.96 9 Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez A 19.94 18.95 19.86 19.94 10 Miroslav Menc B 19.68 19.18 19.92 19.92 11 Andrew Bloom B X 19.65 19.83 19.83 12 Janus Robberts B 19.75 19.16 19.79 19.79 13 Bradley Snyder A 19.77 X 19.59 19.77 14 Burger Lambrechts A X 19.74 19.75 19.75 15 Ville Tiisanoja B 19.04 19.44 19.66 19.66 16 Dragan Peric A 19.04 19.46 19.49 19.49 17 Joachim Olsen B 19.32 X 19.41 19.41 18 Pavel Chumachenko B 18.99 19.40 X 19.40 19 Paolo Dal Soglio B 19.39 X X 19.39 20 Roman Virastyuk A 18.91 19.04 19.27 19.27 21 Chima Ugwu A 19.07 19.11 X 19.11 22 Karel Potgieter A 19.02 X 19.00 19.02 23 Mikulas Konopka A 18.59 X 18.99 18.99 24 Stevimir Ercegovac A 18.74 18.98 X 18.98 25 Szilard Kiss B 18.60 18.61 18.95 18.95 26 Michael Mertens B 18.64 18.48 18.72 18.72 27 Bahadur Singh Sagoo B 18.70 X X 18.70 28 Saulius Kleiza A 18.57 X 18.59 18.59 29 Justin Anlezark B 18.59 18.11 18.46 18.59 30 Gheorghe Guset A 18.46 X 18.56 18.56 31 Mark Proctor B X 18.49 X 18.49 32 Shakti Singh A 18.40 17.96 18.13 18.40 33 Alexis Paumier A 18.31 X 18.04 18.31 34 Bilal Saad Mubarak B 18.30 X X 18.30 35 Vaios Tigkas A 17.52 18.13 17.84 18.13 36 Ivan Emilianov B X 17.38 17.63 17.63 37 Sergey Rubtsov B 15.49 15.90 X 15.90
Final
Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes Arsi Harju 21.20 21.29 20.77 X 20.37 X 21.29 Adam Nelson 20.53 21.20 21.21 X 20.97 X 21.21 John Godina X 20.40 20.25 20.71 21.20 X 21.20 4 Andrew Bloom 20.87 X 20.11 X 19.92 20.16 20.87 5 Yuriy Bilonoh 20.57 20.84 X 20.43 20.22 X 20.84 6 Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez 19.89 19.45 X 19.50 20.55 19.70 20.55 NR 7 Janus Robberts 18.81 19.72 X 18.87 19.06 20.32 20.32 8 Oliver-Sven Buder 19.89 20.18 X 19.64 X X 20.18 9 Andrey Mikhnevich 19.48 X X Did not advance 19.48 10 Miroslav Menc 19.02 19.16 19.39 Did not advance 19.39 11 Milan Haborák X X 19.06 Did not advance 19.06 12 Timo Aaltonen X 18.64 X Did not advance 18.64
References
External links todor66 Official Report of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics