The women's shot put competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 12 August. Each athlete receives three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieve the qualifying distance progress to the final. If less than twelve athletes achieve this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reach the final. Each finalist is allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Summary Valerie Adams entered as the 2-time defending champion having won the Olympic gold medal in 2008 & 2012 (initial champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk remained banned for doping). Adams had regained form, ranking second in the world with 20.19 m, after two injury affected seasons. Christina Schwanitz had won the 2015 World Championships in her absence and had taken gold at the European Championships the previous month with a throw of 20.17 m. Gong Lijiao (the 2015 world runner-up) led the rankings at 20.43 m. Michelle Carter, who had won World Indoor and American titles that year, was the only other woman to have thrown beyond twenty metres that year.Landells, Steve (7 August 2016). Preview: women's shot put – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 August 2016.senior outdoor 2016 Shot Put women . IAAF. Retrieved on 12 August 2016.

In the qualifying round, Adams was best with her only throw of 19.74 m, while Schwanitz and Carter also went beyond nineteen metres, though Carter took two attempts to get the automatic qualifier. Gong, Anita Márton, and Raven Saunders were the other automatic qualifiers. American Felisha Johnson, who was eighth on the season's lists, was the most prominent athlete who failed to progress to the final.Landells, Steve (12 August 2016). Report: women's shot put qualifying – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.

In the final, Valerie Adams looked set to claim a third straight title. She took the lead after the first round with a 19.79 m and improved her position with a throw of 20.42 m in the second round. Carter sat in second position through all the rounds of the competition with a 19.12 m in the first and 19.82 m in the second (which only briefly held the lead until Adams could throw again). Schwanitz held the bronze medal position in the first round, but was overtaken by Gong in the second. Márton equalled Gong with a third round 19.39, but was still behind on the tiebreaker. In the final round Márton threw a Hungarian record 19.87 m to take over bronze medal position, equalling Carter's best at that point but still down due to the tie breaking second throw. In the final round Carter delivered an unexpected American record of a whopping distance of 20.63 m to take the lead. In the last throw of the competition Adams went beyond twenty metres again but her mark of 20.39 m came up short and Carter succeeded her to the title.

The medals were presented by Barry Maister, IOC member, New Zealand and Geoffrey Gardner, Council Member of the IAAF.

Schedule

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3). Date Time RoundFriday, 12 August 2016 10:05QualificationsFriday, 12 August 2016 22:00Finals

Records , the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record22.63 mMoscow, Soviet Union7 June 1987Olympic record22.41 mMoscow, Soviet Union24 July 19802016 World leading20.43 mHalle, Germany21 May 2016

The following record was established during the competition:

Date Event Nationality Athlete Distance Record 12 August Final Michelle Carter 20.63 m 2016 World Leading

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Distance Notes Cameroon Qualifying 17.92 m United States Final 20.63 m Hungary Final 19.87 m

Results

Qualification

Qualification rule: qualification standard 18.40m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Group Name Nationality #1 #2 #3 Result Notes 1 A Valerie Adams 19.74 19.74 2 B Christina Schwanitz 19.18 19.18 3 A Michelle Carter 17.95 19.01 19.01 4 A Raven Saunders x 18.83 18.83 5 B Gong Lijiao 18.74 18.74 6 B Anita Márton 18.51 18.51 7 B Geisa Arcanjo 18.2717.67x 18.27 , 8 A Cleopatra Borel 16.94 17.78 18.20 18.20 9 A Natalia Duco 18.18 x x 18.18 10 B Auriole Dongmo 17.9217.71x 17.92 , 11 B Alena Abramchuk 17.7817.1916.97 17.78 12 A Aliona Dubitskaya x x 17.76 17.76 13 B Paulina Guba 17.7017.56x 17.70 14 B Felisha Johnson x17.6417.69 17.69 15 A Melissa Boekelman 16.9717.69x 17.69 16 A Bian Ka 17.68 17.3616.84 17.68 17 B Yuliya Leantsiuk 17.66x16.69 17.66 18 A Brittany Crew 16.67x17.45 17.45 19 B Ahymará Espinoza x17.2716.77 17.27 20 A Sara Gambetta x16.9317.24 17.24 21 B Radoslava Mavrodieva x17.1117.20 17.20 22 B Yaniuvis López 17.15xx 17.15 23 B Manpreet Kaur 16.6817.0616.76 17.06 24 A Emel Dereli 17.0116.86x 17.01 25 B Danniel Thomas 16.7016.4316.99 16.99 26 A Saily Viart 15.82x16.99 16.99 27 A Ol'ha Holodna 16.1016.3516.83 16.83 28 B Taryn Suttie 16.5516.7416.60 16.74 29 A Nwanneka Okwelogu 16.67xx 16.67 30 B Lena Urbaniak 16.3216.62x 16.62 31 A Sandra Lemos 16.4616.4616.12 16.46 32 A Leyla Rajabi 16.1816.3416.16 16.34 33 A Gao Yang 16.1715.48x 16.17 34 B Galyna Obleshchuk 15.81xx 15.81 35 A Dimitriana Surdu 15.14 15.17 15.25 15.25 36 B Jessica Inchude 14.12 15.15 14.84 15.15

Final

Rank Name Nationality #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Result Notes 19.12 19.82 19.44 19.87 19.84 20.63 20.63 , 19.79 20.42 19.80 x x 20.39 20.42 Anita Márton 17.60 18.72 19.39 19.38 19.10 19.87 19.87 Gong Lijiao 18.98 19.39 19.18 x x x 19.39 Raven Saunders 18.88 x x x x 19.35 19.35 Christina Schwanitz 19.03 x x x x 18.92 19.03 Cleopatra Borel 18.05 18.24 x 17.94 18.37 x 18.37 Aliona Dubitskaya 18.00 18.23 x x x x 18.23 Geisa Arcanjo 17.50 17.68 18.16 did not advance 18.16 10 Natalia Duco 18.07 17.73 17.99 did not advance 18.07 11 Alena Abramchuk 17.37 x x did not advance 17.37 12 Auriole Dongmo x 16.99 16.82 did not advance 16.99

References