Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put
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Men's shot put at the Games of the XXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
Dates | 23 July 1976 (qualifying) 24 July 1976 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 23 from 17 nations | |||||||||
Winning distance | 21.05 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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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]
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.