Shot Put

How it works

The shot, a metal ball (7.26kg/16lb for men, 4kg for women), is put - not thrown- with one hand. The aim is to put it as far as possible from a 7ft-diameter (2.135m) circle that has a curved 10cm-high toe-board at the front.

In order for the put to be measured, the shot must not drop below the line of the athlete’s shoulders at any stage of the put and must land inside a designated 35-degree sector. The athlete, meanwhile, must not touch the top of the toe-board during their put or leave the circle before the ball has landed, and then only from the rear half of the circle.

Athletes will commonly throw four or six times per competition.  In the event of a tie, the winner will be the athlete with the next best effort.

History

The Ancient Greeks threw stones as a sport and soldiers are recorded as throwing  cannon balls in the Middle Ages but a version of the modern form of the discipline can be traced to the Highland Games in Scotland during the 19^th century where competitors threw a rounded cube, stone or metal weight from behind a line.

The men’s Shot Put has been part of every modern Olympics since 1896, but women putters had to wait until 1948 before they could compete at the Games.

Did you know

The rotational technique now also used by many of the world's top throwers was first popularised by Soviet thrower Aleksandr Baryshnikov in the early 1970s after being invented by his coach Viktor Alexeyev. Baryshnikov went on to set a World record of 22.00m in 1976.

Gold standard

Three men have won back-to-back Olympic titles: Ralph Rose (USA) in 1904 and 1908, Parry O'Brien (USA) in 1952 and 1956 and Poland's current Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski in 2008 and 2012.

In 2011, New Zealand's Valerie Adams equalled the record of Germany's Astrid Kumbernuss by winning her third consecutive gold medal at the IAAF World Championships. Kumbernuss triumphed in 1995, 1997 and 1999.