# 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's shot put

The Women's shot put event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 28 and 29. The winning margin was 1.22 metres which as of 2024 remains the only time the women's shot put has been won by more than 1.2 metres at these championships.
There were two main contenders for the gold medal: New Zealander Valerie Vili (who returned to using her maiden name of Adams following her 2010 divorce) and Nadzeya Astapchuk of Belarus. Adams, with four straight wins on the Diamond League circuit, entered the competition as the defending champion and reigning Olympic champion. Astapchuk was the only other woman to have thrown over 20.50 m that season and held the world leading mark of 20.94 m. Other in-form throwers included Americans Jillian Camarena-Williams and Michelle Carter, and Chinese athletes Gong Lijiao and Li Ling. The 2009 silver medallist Nadine Kleinert and 2008 Olympic runner-up Natallia Mikhnevich were present, but neither had performed to a high standard that year.
Having already clearly won the final, Adams relaxed and let loose a put of 21.24 on her final throw. While it only elevated her to 22nd on the all-time list, it was the best throw since Larisa Peleshenko in 2000. It was obviously her personal best and annual world leader, it was also the New Zealand national record and Oceana area record. It also equalled the championship record from 1987. Previous world leader Nadzeya Astapchuk came through in the fifth round with a 20.05 put, to edge past Jillian Camarena-Williams.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Valerie Adams New Zealand (NZL) | Jillian Camarena-Williams United States (USA) | Gong Lijiao China (CHN) |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the established records were as follows.
| World record | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 22.63 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 7 June 1987 |
| Championship record | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 21.24 | Rome, Italy | 5 September 1987 |
| World leading | Nadzeya Astapchuk (BLR) | 20.94 | Zhukovsky, Russia | 3 July 2011 |
| African record | Vivian Chukwuemeka (NGR) | 18.35 | Ijebu Ode, Nigeria | 17 April 2006 |
| Asian record | Meisu Li (CHN) | 21.76 | Shijiazhuang, China | 23 April 1988 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Belsy Laza (CUB) | 20.96 | Mexico City, Mexico | 2 May 1992 |
| South American record | Elisângela Adriano (BRA) | 19.30 | Tunja, Colombia | 14 July 2001 |
| European record | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 22.63 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 7 June 1987 |
| Oceanian record | Valerie Adams (NZL) | 21.07 | Thessaloniki, Greece | 13 September 2009 |

## Qualification standards

| A standard | B standard |
| 18.30 | 17.30 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 28, 2011 | 10:20 | Qualification |
| August 29, 2011 | 20:40 | Final |

## Results
### Qualification

Qualification: Qualifying Performance 18.65 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Group | Athlete | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | Result | Notes |
| 1 | A | Valerie Adams | New Zealand (NZL) | 19.79 | | | 19.79 | Q |
| 2 | B | Gong Lijiao | China (CHN) | 19.21 | | | 19.21 | Q |
| 3 | B | Christina Schwanitz | Germany (GER) | 19.20 | | | 19.20 | Q, SB |
| 4 | B | Nadzeya Astapchuk | Belarus (BLR) | 19.11 | | | 19.11 | Q |
| 5 | A | Jillian Camarena-Williams | United States (USA) | 19.09 | | | 19.09 | Q |
| 6 | B | Anna Omarova | Russia (RUS) | 17.86 | 18.01 | 19.03 | 19.03 | Q |
| 7 | A | Cleopatra Borel-Brown | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 18.20 | 18.41 | 18.95 | 18.95 | Q |
| 8 | A | Anna Avdeyeva | Russia (RUS) | 18.32 | 18.33 | 18.92 | 18.92 | Q |
| 9 | B | Yevgeniya Kolodko | Russia (RUS) | 18.58 | 18.90 | | 18.90 | Q |
| 10 | A | Natallia Mikhnevich | Belarus (BLR) | 18.88 | | | 18.88 | Q |
| 11 | B | Michelle Carter | United States (USA) | 18.85 | | | 18.85 | Q |
| 12 | A | Nadine Kleinert | Germany (GER) | 18.75 | | | 18.75 | Q |
| 13 | A | Li Ling | China (CHN) | 18.67 | | | 18.67 | Q |
| 14 | B | Chiara Rosa | Italy (ITA) | 17.69 | 18.27 | 18.28 | 18.28 | |
| 15 | B | Mailín Vargas | Cuba (CUB) | x | 18.27 | x | 18.27 | |
| 16 | A | Misleydis González | Cuba (CUB) | 18.24 | 17.96 | 17.83 | 18.24 | |
| 17 | B | Liu Xiangrong | China (CHN) | 17.59 | 17.96 | 18.22 | 18.22 | |
| 18 | A | Julie Labonté | Canada (CAN) | 17.66 | 18.04 | x | 18.04 | |
| 19 | A | Josephine Terlecki | Germany (GER) | 17.85 | 17.72 | 17.20 | 17.85 | |
| 20 | B | Natalia Ducó | Chile (CHI) | 17.42 | x | 17.42 | 17.42 | |
| 21 | A | Sarah Stevens-Walker | United States (USA) | 16.50 | x | 17.20 | 17.20 | |
| 22 | B | Anita Márton | Hungary (HUN) | x | 16.33 | 17.04 | 17.04 | |
| 23 | B | Lee Mi-Young | South Korea (KOR) | 16.08 | 16.18 | 15.96 | 16.18 | |
| 24 | B | Simoné du Toit | South Africa (RSA) | 15.83 | x | x | 15.83 | |
| 25 | A | Radoslava Mavrodieva | Bulgaria (BUL) | x | 15.76 | x | 15.76 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | Result | Notes |
| | Valerie Adams | New Zealand (NZL) | 19.37 | x | 20.04 | 20.72 | x | 21.24 | 21.24 | CR, AR, WL |
| | Jillian Camarena-Williams | United States (USA) | 19.63 | 18.53 | 19.24 | 20.02 | 18.80 | 19.44 | 20.02 | |
| | Gong Lijiao | China (CHN) | 19.64 | x | x | 19.82 | 19.97 | x | 19.97 | |
| 4 | Yevgeniya Kolodko | Russia (RUS) | 18.42 | 18.28 | 19.78 | x | x | 19.26 | 19.78 | PB |
| 5 | Li Ling | China (CHN) | 19.12 | 19.71 | 19.23 | 19.60 | 19.50 | 19.49 | 19.71 | |
| 6 | Anna Avdeyeva | Russia (RUS) | 18.80 | 18.65 | 19.16 | 18.96 | 19.54 | 18.51 | 19.54 | SB |
| 7 | Nadine Kleinert | Germany (GER) | 19.26 | x | 18.83 | x | x | - | 19.26 | SB |
| 8 | Michelle Carter | United States (USA) | 18.76 | x | 18.13 | | | | 18.76 | |
| 9 | Anna Omarova | Russia (RUS) | 18.67 | x | x | | | | 18.67 | |
| 10 | Natallia Mikhnevich | Belarus (BLR) | 18.44 | x | 18.47 | | | | 18.47 | |
| 11 | Christina Schwanitz | Germany (GER) | 17.96 | x | x | | | | 17.96 | |
| 12 | Cleopatra Borel-Brown | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | x | 17.62 | 17.53 | | | | 17.62 | |
| | Nadezhda Ostapchuk | Belarus (BLR) | 19.58 | 19.34 | 19.87 | 19.87 | 20.05 | 19.60 | 20.05 m | DQ |