Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

This was the 19th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1976 Games were defending champion Udo Beyer of East Germany, bronze medalist Aleksandr Baryshnikov of the Soviet Union, sixth-place finisher Geoff Capes of Great Britain, and twelfth-place finisher Reijo Ståhlberg of Finland. During the 1970s, the East Germans and the Soviets had overtaken the United States as the top shot putters (the Americans had won 14 gold medals in 16 Games from 1896 to 1968, but had only a silver in 1972 and 1976), so the American-led boycott had little effect on the top contenders. Beyer was the favorite, as the defending Olympic champion, 1978 European champion, and world record holder.[2]

Bulgaria made its debut in the men's shot put. Great Britain made its 13th appearance, most of any nation competing, though only third-most overall behind the United States (18 appearances, missing the competition for the first time) and Greece (14 appearances).

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 19.60 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]

The standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1980 Games were as follows.

World record	Udo Beyer (GDR)	22.15	Gothenburg, Sweden	6 July 1978
Olympic record	Aleksandr Baryshnikov (URS)	21.32	Montreal, Canada	24 July 1976

The Olympic record came within six throws from surviving the Games. Vladimir Kiselyov led the competition with 21.10 metres until the last throw for each man in the finals; throwing third of the remaining eight, his ultimate put was 21.35 metres to take the record. The five men after him were unable to surpass that throw, including the other two medalists fouling. Kiselyov was the only putter to achieve a personal best, ending Udo Beyer's 34 straight victory streak.[4]

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

• 1976 Men's Olympic Shot Put (Montreal)
• 1978 Men's European Championships Shot Put (Prague)
• 1982 Men's European Championships Shot Put (Athens)
• 1983 Men's World Championships Shot Put (Helsinki)

• Results