# Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Twenty-four athletes from 15 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition was held on 3 August. The final was won by American Wilbur Thompson. Thompson's compatriots, Jim Delaney and Jim Fuchs took 2nd and 3rd place. It was the ninth time that an American had won the event, and the fifth time that the Americans had swept the medals.

## Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The American team was strong; Charles Fonville, who had been the "best putter early in the year" and had set the world record in April, was unable to even make the three-man roster. Jim Delaney won the U.S. trials, with Wilbur Thompson the runner-up.
Canada, Iceland, Pakistan, and Peru each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States appeared for the 11th time, the only nation to have competed in all Olympic shot put competitions to date.

## Competition format

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 14.60 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 six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Charlie Fonville (USA) | 17.68 | Lawrence, United States | 17 April 1948 |
| Olympic record | Hans Woellke (GER) | 16.20 | Berlin, Germany | 2 August 1936 |
Jim Fuchs broke the Olympic record with his first throw of the final, at 16.32 metres. Wilbur Thompson, later in the round, threw 16.47 metres to break the new record. In the second throw of the final, Jim Delaney achieved a new record at 16.68 metres. Later in the round, Thompson again broke this new record, putting the shot 17.12 metres. That would hold as the record through the rest of the competition. In all, the three men had 10 throws greater than the old Olympic record: all five of Thompson's legal throws, three of Fuchs's throws, and two of Delaney's. USA took a sweep of the medals.

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Tuesday 3 August 1948 | 11:00 16:00 | Qualifying Final |

## Results
### Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 14.60m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Distance | Notes |
| 1 | Jim Fuchs | United States | 15.870 | Q |
| 2 | Wilbur Thompson | United States | 15.090 | Q |
| 3 | Jim Delaney | United States | 14.970 | Q |
| 4 | Yrjö Lehtilä | Finland | 14.850 | Q |
| 5 | John Giles | Great Britain | 14.795 | Q |
| 6 | Jaakko Jouppila | Finland | 14.720 | Q |
| 7 | Mieczysław Łomowski | Poland | 14.700 | Q |
| 7 | Gösta Arvidsson | Sweden | 14.700 | Q |
| 9 | Konstantinos Giataganas | Greece | 14.630 | Q |
| 10 | Čestmír Kalina | Czechoslovakia | 14.540 | q |
| 11 | Sigfús Sigurðsson | Iceland | 14.480 | q |
| 12 | Witold Gerutto | Poland | 14.450 | q |
| 13 | Willy Senn | Switzerland | 14.450 | |
| 14 | Roland Nilsson | Sweden | 14.360 | |
| 15 | Eric Coy | Canada | 14.150 | |
| 16 | David Guiney | Ireland | 14.010 | |
| 17 | Vilhjálmur Vilmundarson | Iceland | 13.990 | |
| 18 | Roger Verhaes | Belgium | 13.540 | |
| 19 | Harold Moody | Great Britain | 13.400 | |
| 20–24 | Emilio Malchiodi | Argentina | Unknown | |
| 20–24 | Juan Kanhert | Argentina | Unknown | |
| 20–24 | Lionelo Patiño | Peru | Unknown | |
| 20–24 | Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik | Pakistan | Unknown | |
| 20–24 | Ahmed Zahur Khan | Pakistan | Unknown | |
| — | Aad de Bruyn | Netherlands | DNS | |
| — | Eduardo Julve | Peru | DNS | |
| — | François Lapicque | France | DNS | |
| — | K. Meraklis | Greece | DNS | |
| — | Leo Roininen | Canada | DNS | |
| — | José Luis Torres | Spain | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance | Notes |
| | Wilbur Thompson | United States | 16.47 OR | 17.12 OR | 16.97 | 16.67 | 16.80 | X | 17.12 | OR |
| | Jim Delaney | United States | 16.14 | 16.68 OR | 15.88 | 16.03 | 16.03 | 16.28 | 16.68 | |
| | Jim Fuchs | United States | 16.32 OR | 16.42 | 15.60 | 15.56 | 14.82 | 16.28 | 16.42 | |
| 4 | Mieczysław Łomowski | Poland | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 15.43 | |
| 5 | Gösta Arvidsson | Sweden | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 15.37 | |
| 6 | Yrjö Lehtilä | Finland | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 15.05 | |
| 7 | Jaakko Jouppila | Finland | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 14.59 | |
| 8 | Čestmír Kalina | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 14.55 | |
| 9 | Konstantinos Giataganas | Greece | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 14.54 | |
| 10 | Witold Gerutto | Poland | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 14.37 | |
| 11 | John Giles | Great Britain | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 13.73 | |
| 12 | Sigfús Sigurðsson | Iceland | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 13.66 | |