Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

The men's shot put event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, had an entry list of 23 competitors from 17 nations, with two qualifying groups (23 putters) before the final (12) took place on Saturday July 24, 1976. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 19.40 metres advanced to the final. The qualifying round was held on Friday 23, 1976.[1]

Men's shot put
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Udo Beyer (1981)
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates23 July 1976 (qualifying)
24 July 1976 (final)
Competitors23 from 17 nations
Winning distance21.05
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Udo Beyer
 East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yevgeniy Mironov
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Aleksandr Baryshnikov
 Soviet Union
← 1972
1980 →

The first round leader was Aleksandr Baryshnikov with a 20.53. Al Feuerbach increased that by 2 cm with a 20.55 in the second round, with Udo Beyer moving into bronze medal position with a 20.50. Baryshnikov upped the ante to 21.00 in the third round and that is the way the leader board stayed until the fifth round. Beyer moved into gold medal position with a 21.05. A few throws later Yevgeny Mironov threw 21.03 and leaped from 6th place to the silver medal.

Beyer's gold medal was the first for East Germany in the men's shot put, and the first gold medal for any German shot putter since 1936. Mironov and Baryshnikov took the Soviet Union's first men's shot put medals since 1968, with Mironov's silver the best-yet result for the nation. The United States was kept off the podium in the event for only the second time (the first was in 1936). East Germany became only the second nation to reach the podium in consecutive Games.

Background

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This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1972 Games were two-time silver medalist George Woods and fifth-place finisher Al Feuerbach of the United States, fourth-place finisher Hans-Peter Gies and eleventh-place finisher Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg of East Germany, tenth-place finisher Jaroslav Brabec of Czechoslovakia, twelfth-place finisher Yves Brouzet of France, thirteenth-place finisher Ralf Reichenbach of West Germany, and seventeenth-place finisher Bruce Pirnie of Canada. The third member of the 1972 American team, Brian Oldfield, started competing in the rivaling International Track Association since the Munich Games; his 22.86 metres world record was not ratified by the IAAF and he was barred from entering. The leading eligible athlete was Aleksandr Baryshnikov of the Soviet Union, at 22.00 metres, a favorite in Montreal.[2]

Kuwait made its debut in the men's shot put. The United States appeared for the 18th time, the only nation to have competed in all Olympic shot put competitions to date.

Competition format

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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 19.40 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.[2][3]

Records

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World record   Aleksandr Baryshnikov (URS) 22.00 Colombes, France 10 June 1976
Olympic record   Władysław Komar (POL) 21.18 Munich, West Germany 09 September 1972

For the second time in three Games, the new Olympic record was a qualifying round throw. Aleksandr Baryshnikov broke the Olympic record with a put of 21.32 metres in the qualifying round. Nobody was able to match that mark in the final, with Udo Beyer's gold-winning put only reaching 21.05 metres.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 July 1976 10:15 Qualifying
Saturday, 24 July 1976 15:00 Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Aleksandr Baryshnikov   Soviet Union 21.32 OR 21.32 Q, OR
2 Hans-Peter Gies   East Germany 20.52 20.52 Q
3 Geoff Capes   Great Britain 20.40 20.40 Q
4 Yevgeny Mironov   Soviet Union 18.97 20.26 20.26 Q
5 Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg   East Germany 19.92 19.92 Q
6 Al Feuerbach   United States 19.87 19.87 Q
7 Jaroslav Brabec   Czechoslovakia 19.80 19.80 Q
8 Hans Höglund   Sweden 19.30 19.76 19.76 Q
9 Udo Beyer   East Germany 19.69 19.69 Q
10 Peter Shmock   United States 19.48 19.48 Q
11 Reijo Ståhlberg   Finland 19.08 19.26 19.40 19.40 Q
12 George Woods   United States 19.25 19.27 19.35 19.35 q
13 Ralf Reichenbach   West Germany 19.13 19.31 18.56 19.31
14 Yves Brouzet   France 18.59 18.75 19.14 19.14
15 Hreinn Halldórsson   Iceland X 18.93 18.55 18.93
16 Ivan Ivančić   Yugoslavia 18.88 18.80 18.75 18.88
17 Hans Almström   Sweden 18.31 18.76 X 18.76
18 Jos Schroeder   Belgium 17.78 17.97 18.33 18.33
19 Jean-Pierre Egger   Switzerland 18.06 X 18.13 18.13
20 Bruce Pirnie   Canada X 17.82 X 17.82
21 Juan Adolfo Turri   Argentina 17.24 16.79 17.76 17.76
22 Mohamed Al-Zinkawi   Kuwait 13.17 X X 13.17
23 Saad Al-Bishi   Saudi Arabia 10.89 11.68 X 11.68
Bishop Dolegiewicz   Canada DNS

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance
  Udo Beyer   East Germany 20.38 20.50 20.49 X 21.05 20.45 21.05
  Yevgeny Mironov   Soviet Union 19.67 20.38 20.14 20.17 21.03 20.66 21.03
  Aleksandr Baryshnikov   Soviet Union 20.53 20.27 21.00 20.96 20.58 X 21.00
4 Al Feuerbach   United States 19.74 20.55 20.07 20.21 20.10 20.32 20.55
5 Hans-Peter Gies   East Germany 19.98 20.19 20.47 20.45 20.11 20.13 20.47
6 Geoff Capes   Great Britain 20.15 20.21 20.36 20.32 20.31 X 20.36
7 George Woods   United States 20.13 19.97 20.20 20.26 X 19.87 20.26
8 Hans Höglund   Sweden 20.17 20.10 19.85 19.61 X X 20.17
9 Peter Shmock   United States 19.77 19.89 19.26 Did not advance 19.89
10 Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg   East Germany 19.26 19.79 X Did not advance 19.79
11 Jaroslav Brabec   Czechoslovakia 19.62 19.53 X Did not advance 19.62
12 Reijo Ståhlberg   Finland 18.78 18.99 18.82 Did not advance 18.99

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 75.
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