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Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

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Men's shot put
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Umm al-Quwain stamp commemorating Władysław Komar's victory
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesSeptember 8 & 9
Competitors29 from 19 nations
Winning distance21.18 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Władysław Komar
 Poland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) George Woods
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hartmut Briesenick
 East Germany
← 1968
1976 →

The men's shot put field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 8 & 9. Twenty-nine athletes from 19 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

The East German throwers were expected to pose a big challenge in these games, as well as the throwers from Poland. Brian Oldfield from the United States was the first person to use a new technique, a technique that is similar to the discus throwing style. The thrower uses a rotational spin before releasing the shot put.[2][3]

The event was won by Władysław Komar of Poland, the nation's first medal in the men's shot put. It was the first time since World War II that an American had not won; George Woods had the best result for the United States with silver. It was Woods' second consecutive silver, making him the eighth man to win two medals in the event. Hartmut Briesenick took bronze, East Germany's first medal in the shot put and the first medal for any German since Hans Woellke's 1936 win (the last time a non-American had won).

The winning margin was 1 cm. As of 2023, this is the narrowest winning margin for the men's shot put at the Olympics.

Background

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This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1968 Games were silver medalist George Woods of the United States, sixth-place finisher (and 1964 finalist) Władysław Komar of Poland, eighth-place finisher Heinfried Birlenbach and twelfth-place finisher Traugott Glöckler of West Germany, and eleventh-place finisher (and 1964 finalist) Les Mills of New Zealand. The American team was favored, but not as dominant as in prior years. East Germany had a strong team, with three-time Olympian Komar also a contender.[1]

India, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States appeared for the 17th 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 19.00 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.[1][4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics.

World record  Randy Matson (USA) 21.78 College Station, United States 23 April 1967
Olympic record  Randy Matson (USA) 20.68 Mexico City, Mexico 14 October 1968

The Olympic record fell quickly, with Hartmut Briesenick's first throw in the final reaching 20.97 metres. Briesenick had been the sixth thrower in the order; the seventh (Brian Oldfield) and tenth (Al Feuerbach) came in between the old record and Briesenick's new one. The thirteenth, Hans-Peter Gies, threw 21.14 metres for a new record. The fourteenth thrower, however, was Władysław Komar—who threw 21.18 metres to set a new record that would last through the competition. George Woods became the sixth man to beat the old record in the third round, and came within a centimetre of Komar's new record in the fourth. In all, 20 throws from six men were better than the old record.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 8 September 1972 10:00 Qualifying
Saturday, 9 September 1972 14:30 Final

Results

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All throwers reaching 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in) and the top 12 including ties advanced to the finals. Shown in blue. All distances are listed in metres.[5]

Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation Group 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Władysław Komar  Poland A 20.60 20.60 Q
2 Hartmut Briesenick  East Germany B 20.38 20.38 Q
3 Heinfried Birlenbach  West Germany B 20.10 20.10 Q
4 George Woods  United States A 19.96 19.96 Q
5 Brian Oldfield  United States B 19.95 19.95 Q
6 Al Feuerbach  United States A 19.94 19.94 Q
Vilmos Varjú  Hungary B 19.94 19.94 Q
8 Yves Brouzet  France A 19.87 19.87 Q
9 Jaroslav Brabec  Czechoslovakia A 19.82 19.82 Q
10 Jaromír Vlk  Czechoslovakia B X 18.20 19.61 19.61 Q
11 Seppo Simola  Finland A 19.49 19.49 Q
12 Lahcen Samsam Akka  Morocco B 18.98 19.36 19.36 Q
13 Rimantas Plungė  Soviet Union B 18.97 19.18 19.18 Q
14 Bruce Pirnie  Canada B 19.18 19.18 Q
15 Ralf Reichenbach  West Germany A 19.14 19.14 Q
16 Traugott Glöckler  West Germany B 18.15 19.11 19.11 Q
17 Hans-Peter Gies  East Germany A 19.06 19.06 Q
18 Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg  East Germany A 19.03 19.03 Q
19 Ivan Ivančić  Yugoslavia B 18.80 18.95 X 18.95
20 Geoff Capes  Great Britain B 18.94 18.72 18.79 18.94
21 Arnjolt Beer  France B 18.55 18.74 18.21 18.74
22 Aleksandr Baryshnikov  Soviet Union A 18.45 18.41 18.65 18.65
23 Les Mills  New Zealand B 17.61 18.38 X 18.38
24 Bo Grahn  Finland B X X 18.20 18.20
25 Loukas Louka  Greece A 17.47 17.48 X 17.48
26 Jugraj Singh  India A X 17.15 16.69 17.15
27 Phil Conway  Ireland B 16.16 15.76 16.69 16.69
28 Christopher Okonkwo  Nigeria A 14.98 X 16.51 16.51
29 Hussein Al-Taib Maki  Saudi Arabia A X 11.57 10.77 11.57
Youssef Nagui Assaad  Egypt A DNS
Bjorn Andersen  Norway A DNS
Bill Tancred  Great Britain A DNS
Aristides Lanier  Cuba B DNS
Salvatore Morale  Italy B DNS
Vassil Kroumov  Bulgaria B DNS

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Władysław Komar  Poland 21.18 OR X 20.55 20.74 20.80 X 21.18 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) George Woods  United States 20.55 20.17 20.71 21.17 20.88 21.05 21.17
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hartmut Briesenick  East Germany 20.97 OR 20.91 21.02 21.14 20.61 20.54 21.14
4 Hans-Peter Gies  East Germany 21.14 OR 21.00 21.01 20.62 X X 21.14
5 Al Feuerbach  United States 20.90 20.29 X 20.86 21.01 20.28 21.01
6 Brian Oldfield  United States 20.85 20.60 20.87 20.54 20.91 20.13 20.91
7 Heinfried Birlenbach  West Germany 20.37 X X 19.89 X 20.13 20.37
8 Vilmos Varjú  Hungary 20.10 X X X 19.67 19.65 20.10
9 Jaromír Vlk  Czechoslovakia 19.66 20.09 X Did not advance 20.09
10 Jaroslav Brabec  Czechoslovakia 19.61 19.86 19.60 Did not advance 19.86
11 Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg  East Germany 19.74 X X Did not advance 19.74
12 Yves Brouzet  France 19.42 19.61 19.49 Did not advance 19.61
13 Ralf Reichenbach  West Germany 19.48 X X Did not advance 19.48
14 Rimantas Plungė  Soviet Union 19.30 X X Did not advance 19.30
15 Lahcen Samsam Akka  Morocco 19.11 X X Did not advance 19.11
16 Seppo Simola  Finland 18.91 19.06 X Did not advance 19.06
17 Bruce Pirnie  Canada 18.90 X X Did not advance 18.90
18 Traugott Glöckler  West Germany 18.85 18.47 X Did not advance 18.85

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  3. ^ Mens Shot Put at Sports Reference
  4. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 61.
  5. ^ "Munich 1972 shot put men Results - Olympic athletics".
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