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

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
DatesApril 7
Competitors7 from 4 nations
Winning distance11.22 OR
Medalists
Robert Garrett
 United States
Miltiadis Gouskos
 Greece
Georgios Papasideris
 Greece
Athletics at the
1896 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
110 m hurdlesmen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmen
Discus throwmen

Background

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
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

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

World record George Gray (CAN)*14.32Chicago, United States16 September 1893
Olympic recordN/A'

* unofficial

Robert Garrett set the initial Olympic record at 11.22 metres.

Schedule
Date Time Round
Gregorian Julian
Tuesday, 7 April 1896Tuesday, 26 March 189615:40Final

Results

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]

RankAthleteNationDistanceNotes
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
Fritz Hofmann Germany 10.00
Carl Schuhmann Germany Unknown
— Louis Adler FranceDNS
Conrad Böcker GermanyDNS
Alfred Flatow GermanyDNS
Adolphe Grisel FranceDNS
Holger Nielsen DenmarkDNS
Pál Péthy HungaryDNS
George S. Robertson Great BritainDNS
Momčilo Tapavica HungaryDNS
Charles Vanoni United StatesDNS
Desiderius Wein HungaryDNS
Hermann Weingärtner GermanyDNS
Charles Winckler DenmarkDNS

References
  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. "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. Official Report, p. 69.
  4. 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.
  6. "Shot Put Men". IOC. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

Sources
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