Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's shot put

Women's shot put at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	12 August
Competitors	36 from 25 nations
Winning distance	20.63
Medalists
Michelle Carter  Vereinigte Staaten Valerie Adams  Neuseeland Anita Marton  Ungarn

The women's shot put competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 12 August. Each athlete receives three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieve the qualifying distance progress to the final. If less than twelve athletes achieve this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reach the final. Each finalist is allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Summary

Valerie Adams entered as the defending Olympic champion from 2012 (initial champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk remained banned for doping). Adams had regained form, ranking second in the world with 20.19 m, after two injury affected seasons. Christina Schwanitz had won the 2015 World Championships in her absence and had taken gold at the European Championships the previous month with a throw of 20.17 m. Gong Lijiao (the 2015 world runner-up) led the rankings at 20.43 m. Michelle Carter, who had won World Indoor and American titles that year, was the only other woman to have thrown beyond twenty metres that year.

In the qualifying round, Adams was best with her only throw of 19.74 m, while Schwanitz and Carter also went beyond nineteen metres, though Carter took two attempts to get the automatic qualifier. Gong, Anita Márton, and Raven Saunders were the other automatic qualifiers. American Felisha Johnson, who was eighth on the season's lists, was the most prominent athlete who failed to progress to the final.

In the final, Valerie Adams looked set to claim a third straight title. She took the lead after the first round with a 19.79 and improved her position with a throw of 20.42 m in the second round. Carter sat in second position through all the rounds of the competition with a 19.12 in the first and 19.82 in the second (which only briefly held the lead until Adams could throw again). Schwanitz held the bronze medal position in the first round, but was overtaken by Gong in the second. Márton equalled Gong with a third round 19.39, but was still behind on the tiebreaker. In the final round Márton threw a Hungarian record but was still short of twenty metres. In the final round she delivered an unexpected American record of 20.63 m to take the lead. In the last throw of the competition Adams went beyond twenty metres again but her mark of 20.39 m came up short and Carter succeeded her to the title.

Zeitplan

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3).

Date	Zeit	Round
Friday, 12 August 2016	10:05	Qualifications
Friday, 12 August 2016	22:00	Finals

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Natalya Lisovskaya (URS)	22.63 m	Moscow, Soviet Union	7 June 1987
Olympic record	Ilona Slupianek (GDR)	22.41 m	Moscow, Soviet Union	24 July 1980
2016 World leading	Gong Lijiao (CHN)	20.43 m	Halle, Germany	21 May 2016

Results

Qualification

Qualification rule: qualification standard 18.40m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
1	A	Valerie Adams	Neuseeland	19.74			19.74	Q
2	B	Christina Schwanitz	Deutschland	19.18			19.18	Q
3	A	Michelle Carter	Vereinigte Staaten	17.95	19.01		19.01	Q
4	A	Raven Saunders	Vereinigte Staaten	x	18.83		18.83	Q
5	B	Gong Lijiao	China	18.74			18.74	Q
6	B	Anita Marton	Ungarn	18.51			18.51	Q
7	B	Geisa Arcanjo	Brasilien	18.27	17.67	x	18.27	q, SB
8	A	Cleopatra Borel	Trinidad und Tobago	16.94	17.78	18.20	18.20	q
9	A	Natalia Duco	Chile	18.18	x	x	18.18	q
10	B	Auriole Dongmo	Kamerun	17.92	17.71	x	17.92	q
11	B	Alena Abramchuk	Weißrussland	17.78	17.19	16.97	17.78	q
12	A	Aliona Dubitskaya	Weißrussland	x	x	17.76	17.76	q
13	B	Paulina Guba	Polen	17.70	17.56	x	17.70
14	B	Felisha Johnson	Vereinigte Staaten	x	17.64	17.69	17.69
15	A	Melissa Boekelman	Niederlande	16.97	17.69	x	17.69
16	A	Bian Ka	China	17.68	17.36	16.84	17.68
17	B	Yuliya Leantsiuk	Weißrussland	17.66	x	16.69	17.66
18	A	Brittany Crew	Kanada	16.67	x	17.45	17.45
19	B	Ahymará Espinoza	Venezuela	x	17.27	16.77	17.27
20	A	Sara Gambetta	Deutschland	x	16.93	17.24	17.24
21	B	Radoslava Mavrodieva	Bulgarien	x	17.11	17.20	17.20
22	B	Yaniuvis López	Cuba	17.15	x	x	17.15
23	B	Manpreet Kaur	Indien	16.68	17.06	16.76	17.06
24	A	Emel Dereli	Türkei	17.01	16.86	x	17.01
25	B	Danniel Thomas	Jamaika	16.70	16.43	16.99	16.99
26	A	Saily Viart	Cuba	15.82	x	16.99	16.99
27	A	Olga Golodna	Ukraine	16.10	16.35	16.83	16.83
28	B	Taryn Suttie	Kanada	16.55	16.74	16.60	16.74
29	A	Nwanneka Okwelogu	Nigeria	16.67	x	x	16.67
30	B	Lena Urbaniak	Deutschland	16.32	16.62	x	16.62
31	A	Sandra Lemos	Kolumbien	16.46	16.46	16.12	16.46
32	A	Leyla Rajabi	Iran	16.18	16.34	16.16	16.34
33	A	Gao Yang	China	16.17	15.48	x	16.17
34	B	Galyna Obleshchuk	Ukraine	15.81	x	x	15.81
35	A	Dimitriana Surdu	Moldawien	15.14	15.17	15.25	15.25
36	B	Jessica Inchude	Guinea-Bissau	14.12	15.15	14.84	15.15

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	Result	Notes
	Michelle Carter	Vereinigte Staaten	19.12	19.82	19.44	19.87	19.84	20.63	20.63	AR
	Valerie Adams	Neuseeland	19.79	20.42	19.80	X	X	20.39	20.42	SB
	Anita Marton	Ungarn	17.60	18.72	19.39	19.38	19.10	19.87	19.87	NR
4	Gong Lijiao	China	18.98	19.39	19.18	X	X	X	19.39
5	Raven Saunders	Vereinigte Staaten	18.88	X	X	X	X	19.35	19.35	PB
6	Christina Schwanitz	Deutschland	19.03	X	X	X	X	18.92	19.03
7	Cleopatra Borel	Trinidad und Tobago	18.05	18.24	X	17.94	18.37	X	18.37
8	Aliona Dubitskaya	Weißrussland	18.00	18.23	X	X	X	X	18.23
9	Geisa Arcanjo	Brasilien	17.50	17.68	18.16	—	—	—	18.16
10	Natalia Duco	Chile	18.07	17.73	17.99	—	—	—	18.07
11	Alena Abramchuk	Weißrussland	17.37	X	X	—	—	—	17.37
12	Auriole Dongmo	Kamerun	X	16.99	16.82	—	—	—	16.82