Shot Put, Women

New Zealander Valerie Adams (formerly Valerie Vili) came in as the clear favorite, having won the gold medal at Beijing, the last three World titles, and gold at the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games. Her biggest competition was expected to come from Belarussian Nadezhda Ostapchuk, the 2005 World Champion and bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics. Both qualified easily, with Ostapchuk posting 20.76, the longest ever qualifying mark.

Adams took the lead in the first round of the final with 20.61, Ostapchuk posting only 20.01. But in round two Ostapchuk improved to 21.31, and Adams could never match that, her best mark being 20.70 in round three. Ostapchuk would post four throws over 21 metres, with a best of 21.36 in round three, and seemingly won the gold medal. Behind the two favorites, Russian Yevgeniya Kolodko was in fifth place entering the final round, but came through with 20.48 for what seemed to be a bronze medal, edging out Chinese putter Gong Lijiao.

One week later all the results changed. Ostapchuk had tested positive for the steroid metenolone the day before and the day after the final, and she was disqualified. This gave Adams her second consecutive gold medal, and temporarily moved Kolodko up to silver, moving Gong up to a bronze medal. Adams became only the second woman to win two Olympic shot golds, after Soviet Tamara Press in 1960-64.

That was not the end of the results shuffle in this event. In 2015, the IOC began re-testing samples from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, using newer, more advanced testing techniques, in an effort to find those who had used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but in whom it could not be detected at the time of those Olympics. This was one of the many events affected.

In August 2016 Yevgeniya Kolodko was disqualified for a re-test positive for turinabol (dehydrochloromethyltestosterone) and ipamorelin, and lost the silver medal to which she had been re-assigned. The silver and bronze medals were eventually given to the Chinese athletes Gong Lijiao and Li Ling, respectively. In January 2017 Ostapchuk also lost her bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after testing positive for turinabol (dehydrochloromethyltestosterone) and tamoxifen.