The shot put is a discipline of the Athlétisme, which consists in launching a ball of heavy metal as far as possible. The weight is also called projectile ( shot ).

The competitors take seat inside a circle 2,1 meters (7 feet) of diameter. They must put back the projectile between the neck and the shoulder, and push their arm of very right launching. The distance from the throw is measured before circle to where the projectile fell. Each competitor obtains a certain number to launch, usually 6 in the competitions of elite, and the competitor with the longest distance is declared gaining it. In competition for men, the projectile weighs roughly 7,26 kilograms (16 pounds); the projectile of the women weighs 4 kilograms. The American colleges use usually projectiles of 12 pounds (5,44 kilograms) for boys and projectiles of 4 kilograms for girls, those are sometimes known like “projectiles of practice”; for the test of athletics of the baccalaureat French, one uses projectiles of 6 kg pure the boys and 4 kg for the girls.

There are currently two techniques shot put it. First is to place itself in front of the circle and to launch it, whereas the other, more recent, implies to make a rotation like the Throwing the discus.

The sport is with the Olympic Games of summer and the Championnats of the world of athletics since its beginnings.

The current world records (2005) are held for the men by Randy Barnes with a distance of 23,12 meters and the women by Natalya Lisovskaya with a distance of 22,63 meters. One sees less long distances lately, surely of with the fight anti-doping.

History of the discipline

Origins

Before being a simple play, the throw was an activity of defense and hunting. It then evolved/moved to give the activities of launching precision (sets of balls) and the throws of distance. The throw of stone or mass was largely practiced during antiquity and this practice continued thereafter. To the 17th century the throw of ball is applied by the soldiers. The choice of the ball as mass quickly will spread in Europe. In 1860, the weight of the metal ball is fixed at 16 pounds (7,257 kg), in reference to the artillery ball of the same weight. In 1865, one authorizes only the throws of a hand, and thereafter, to limit the risks of wounds, is born the modern practice which consists in placing the weight between the nape of the neck and the shoulder. The circle of launching is fixed at the the United States in 1895, and will be adopted with the Olympic Games of summer of 1904.

The time of the `' Elephant Baby''

At the time of these Plays, two American (Wesley Coe and Ralph Pink, two very different physics (Coe weighs 95 kg for 1 m 78, Rose 2 meters for 110 kg) dispute the title. Coe carries it with a jet to 14,81 m (world records) and will become the following year the first with launching the weight beyond 15 Mr. But, in 1907, Rose take again the record with a jet to 15 m 19. Ralph Pink, called `' Elephant Baby'', gain without forcing its talent the London. But in 1907, whereas it weighs 138 kg, Rose, places the world records at 15,54 meters. This record will not be beaten before 1928. After the untimely death of Rose at 29 years in 1913, the shot put stagnates.

In 1928, American takes again their domination on the discipline. With the Plays of Amsterdam, John Kuck beats the world records with a jet to 15 m 87 and Hermann Brix secures the second place with 15 m 75. Third German, Emil Hirschfeld will be however, a few weeks after the Plays, the first to cross the 16 meters, the world level is tightened around the 16 meters, until the arrival of new a `' Elephant Baby'' (1 m 93 per 138 kg): Jack Torrance. The August 5th 1934, it makes a success of an extraordinary throw with 17 meters 40! But this throw will be only, and Torrance does not confirm this record thereafter: it is classified only 5th Jeux of Berlin.

After war: Parry O'Brien .

The post-war period is dominated by Parry O' Brien inventive of a novel method of launching: the back turned to the stop, it finishes its jet by a rotation with 180°. Moreover it is subjected to a hard physical preparation with the weights and with deteriorate. Made fun at the beginning, this technique enables him to largely dominate the discipline and to approach the 20 meters. Its record is of 19 m 30 in 1960. It is finally its compatriot Bill Nieder who will cross the 20 meters this same year before beating O' Brien with the Jeux of Rome. It will be joined by Dallas Length in 1962, record confirmed by gold with the Jeux of Tōkyō.

When doping is interfered.

The doping appears in the form of Stéroïde S Anabolisant S starting from 1964 and causes an important general improvement of the results. This recourse to the doping practices, which is not yet interdict in 1964, is generalized both to the United States and in the countries of the communist bloc and will continue well after the prohibition of doping. That throws an important discredit upon the launchers of this time. The Eastern European countries (the USSR then GDR end up stopping the American domination and dominate the discipline of the medium of the Seventies at the Eighties. The performances of the Italian Alessandro Andrei illustrate well the effects (supposed but ever noted) of doping: average launcher (15,32 m in 1976, it progresses slowly until in 1981, then, starting from 1982, its results are in clear increase, before exploding in 1984. In one year it gains 1,15 m on its personal record and gains with the general surprise the Olympic Games of summer of 1984. This progress seems impossible with a physical and technical preparation normal . It is the same for the German of the east Ulf Timmermann and the American Randy Barnes, only launchers to have crossed the bar of the 23 meters.

Today, since the intensifying of the control anti-doping and the suspension of many launchers of which Randy Barnes, rare which is those cross the 21 meters.

The female shot put

World records

Men

Women

* record not approved by the IAAF.

See too

• the other throws are the Throwing the discus , the Throwing the javelin and the Throwing the hammer .
• Glossary of the athletics

Simple: Shot could