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

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 2-time defending champion having won the Olympic gold medal in 2008 & 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 m 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 m in the first and 19.82 m 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 19.87 m to take over bronze medal position, equalling Carter's best at that point but still down due to the tie breaking second throw. In the final round Carter delivered an unexpected American record of a whopping distance 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.
The medals were presented by Barry Maister, IOC member, New Zealand and Geoffrey Gardner, Council Member of the IAAF.

## Schedule

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3).
| Date | Time | 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 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Nationality | Athlete | Distance | Record |
| 12 August | Final | United States | Michelle Carter | 20.63 m | 2016 World Leading |
The following national records were established during the competition:
| Country | Athlete | Round | Distance | Notes |
| Cameroon | Auriole Dongmo (CMR) | Qualifying | 17.92 m | |
| United States | Michelle Carter (USA) | Final | 20.63 m | WL |
| Hungary | Anita Márton (HUN) | Final | 19.87 m | |

## 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 | New Zealand | 19.74 | | | 19.74 | Q |
| 2 | B | Christina Schwanitz | Germany | 19.18 | | | 19.18 | Q |
| 3 | A | Michelle Carter | United States | 17.95 | 19.01 | | 19.01 | Q |
| 4 | A | Raven Saunders | United States | x | 18.83 | | 18.83 | Q |
| 5 | B | Gong Lijiao | China | 18.74 | | | 18.74 | Q |
| 6 | B | Anita Márton | Hungary | 18.51 | | | 18.51 | Q |
| 7 | B | Geisa Arcanjo | Brazil | 18.27 | 17.67 | x | 18.27 | q, SB |
| 8 | A | Cleopatra Borel | Trinidad and 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 | Cameroon | 17.92 | 17.71 | x | 17.92 | q, NR |
| 11 | B | Alena Abramchuk | Belarus | 17.78 | 17.19 | 16.97 | 17.78 | q |
| 12 | A | Aliona Dubitskaya | Belarus | x | x | 17.76 | 17.76 | q |
| 13 | B | Paulina Guba | Poland | 17.70 | 17.56 | x | 17.70 | |
| 14 | B | Felisha Johnson | United States | x | 17.64 | 17.69 | 17.69 | |
| 15 | A | Melissa Boekelman | Netherlands | 16.97 | 17.69 | x | 17.69 | |
| 16 | A | Bian Ka | China | 17.68 | 17.36 | 16.84 | 17.68 | |
| 17 | B | Yuliya Leantsiuk | Belarus | 17.66 | x | 16.69 | 17.66 | |
| 18 | A | Brittany Crew | Canada | 16.67 | x | 17.45 | 17.45 | |
| 19 | B | Ahymará Espinoza | Venezuela | x | 17.27 | 16.77 | 17.27 | |
| 20 | A | Sara Gambetta | Germany | x | 16.93 | 17.24 | 17.24 | |
| 21 | B | Radoslava Mavrodieva | Bulgaria | x | 17.11 | 17.20 | 17.20 | |
| 22 | B | Yaniuvis López | Cuba | 17.15 | x | x | 17.15 | |
| 23 | B | Manpreet Kaur | India | 16.68 | 17.06 | 16.76 | 17.06 | |
| 24 | A | Emel Dereli | Turkey | 17.01 | 16.86 | x | 17.01 | |
| 25 | B | Danniel Thomas | Jamaica | 16.70 | 16.43 | 16.99 | 16.99 | |
| 26 | A | Saily Viart | Cuba | 15.82 | x | 16.99 | 16.99 | |
| 27 | A | Ol'ha Holodna | Ukraine | 16.10 | 16.35 | 16.83 | 16.83 | |
| 28 | B | Taryn Suttie | Canada | 16.55 | 16.74 | 16.60 | 16.74 | |
| 29 | A | Nwanneka Okwelogu | Nigeria | 16.67 | x | x | 16.67 | |
| 30 | B | Lena Urbaniak | Germany | 16.32 | 16.62 | x | 16.62 | |
| 31 | A | Sandra Lemos | Colombia | 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 | Moldova | 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 | United States | 19.12 | 19.82 | 19.44 | 19.87 | 19.84 | 20.63 | 20.63 | NR, WL |
| | Valerie Adams | New Zealand | 19.79 | 20.42 | 19.80 | x | x | 20.39 | 20.42 | SB |
| | Anita Márton | Hungary | 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 | United States | 18.88 | x | x | x | x | 19.35 | 19.35 | PB |
| 6 | Christina Schwanitz | Germany | 19.03 | x | x | x | x | 18.92 | 19.03 | |
| 7 | Cleopatra Borel | Trinidad and Tobago | 18.05 | 18.24 | x | 17.94 | 18.37 | x | 18.37 | |
| 8 | Aliona Dubitskaya | Belarus | 18.00 | 18.23 | x | x | x | x | 18.23 | |
| 9 | Geisa Arcanjo | Brazil | 17.50 | 17.68 | 18.16 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 18.16 | |
| 10 | Natalia Duco | Chile | 18.07 | 17.73 | 17.99 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 18.07 | |
| 11 | Alena Abramchuk | Belarus | 17.37 | x | x | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 17.37 | |
| 12 | Auriole Dongmo | Cameroon | x | 16.99 | 16.82 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 16.99 | |