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Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

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The men's shot put was one of two throwing events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. Seven athletes took part in the shot put competition on 7 April. The two Greek athletes both won medals, with Gouskos battling closely with Garrett of the United States for the longest distance.[1]

Men's shot put
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Robert Garrett
VenuePanathinaiko Stadium
Dates7 April 1896
Competitors7 from 4 nations
Winning distance11.22 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Robert Garrett
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Miltiadis Gouskos
 Greece
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Georgios Papasideris
 Greece
1900 →

Background

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This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Fifteen athletes entered, but only seven started. The world record holder was George Gray of Canada, but he was absent; so too was 1896's best thrower, Irishman Denis Horgan. The event was "excessively popular in Greece" and was one of the events where the hosts had a real opportunity to win.[2][3][4]

Competition format

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The shot put event

There was a single round of throwing. The format of the competition is unclear; it appears that each thrower received three throws and the top four after that received three more. The Official Report, though, says that "Five Competitors retired after a little while, only ... Gouskos and Mr Garret kept up the sport for a considerable length of time."[2][3]

The throwing stage was a 2.13 metre square. George S. Robertson said that this square "corresponded with no known rules, although the event was purported to be held under English rules." Robertson attributed the short distances of the event to this oddity of the field.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1896 Summer Olympics.

World record   George Gray (CAN)* 14.32 Chicago, United States 16 September 1893
Olympic record N/A

* unofficial

The following record was established during the competition:

Date Event Athlete Nation Distance (m) Record
April 7 Final Robert Garrett   United States 11.22 OR

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Gregorian Julian
Tuesday, 7 April 1896 Tuesday, 26 March 1896 15:40 Final

Results

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Detailed results are not known. The top three finishers, and their best throws, are clear; however, after that sources differ even as to who the competitors were. The IOC lists the seven competitors below, with rankings for the top four. The Official Report gives Garrett's winning distance as 11.22 metres, with Gouskos "a few centimetres" behind. The IOC webpage gives Gouskos's distance at 11.20 metres, while other sources give varying distances (Kluge agrees with 11.20, Olympedia has 11.03, zur Megede has 11.15). All agree on Papsideris's third-place distance at 10.36 metres. There are two entirely different sets of four competitors for 4th through 7th: the IOC and Olympedia have Jensen in 4th, with Clark, Hofmann, and Schuhmann also competing, while Kluge and zur Megede have Robertson, Adler, Sotirios Versis, and Winckler (all except Versis listed by Olympedia as entered but not starting) in order for 4th through 7th places. They have a 9.95 metre throw for Robertson listed. The IOC does not give a distance for any athlete after 3rd, but Olympedia has 10.00 metres for Scuhmann.[5][4][6][2]

While most of the throwing sequence is unknown, the two best throws are specifically recorded. Garrett's winning throw was his first throw. Gouskos's best, coming closest to Garrett's, was his last. The ultimate Gouskos throw was so close that the home nation crowd thought it good enough for a win, and the "official posting the scores made an error and initially listed Gouskos as the winner"; however, the error was corrected and Garrett announced as the winner.[2][3]

Olympedia lists 12 nonstarters, but states (consistent with the Official Report) that "seven of the 15 final entries actually started).[2][3]

Rank Athlete Nation Distance Notes
  Robert Garrett   United States 11.22 OR
  Miltiadis Gouskos   Greece 11.20
  Georgios Papasideris   Greece 10.36
4 Viggo Jensen   Denmark Unknown
5—7 Ellery Clark   United States Unknown
Carl Schuhmann   Germany 10.00
Fritz Hofmann   Germany Unknown
— Louis Adler   France DNS
Conrad Böcker   Germany DNS
Alfred Flatow   Germany DNS
Adolphe Grisel   France DNS
Holger Nielsen   Denmark DNS
Pál Péthy   Hungary DNS
George S. Robertson   Great Britain DNS
Momčilo Tapavica   Hungary DNS
Charles Vanoni   United States DNS
Desiderius Wein   Hungary DNS
Hermann Weingärtner   Germany DNS
Charles Winckler   Denmark DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1896 Athens Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Official Report, p. 69.
  4. ^ a b Ekkehard zur Megede (1970). Die Geschichte der olympischen Leichtathletik, Band 1: 1896–1936 (2nd ed.). Berlin: Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG.
  5. ^ Volker Kluge (1997). Olympische Sommerspiele – Die Chronik I. Berlin. ISBN 3-328-00715-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ "Shot Put Men". IOC. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

Sources

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