Shot Put, Men

The shot put was held on 7 April, but only seven of the 15 final entries actually started. The shot was put from a two-metre square. Bob Garrett (USA) won with a throw of 11.22 metres. Miltiadis Gouskos (GRE) was second and Georgios Papasideris (GRE) was third. Garrett led from his first throw. Gouskos’ best effort was on his last attempt and the Greek crowd cheered wildly, thinking he had beaten Garrett. The Greek crowd was very disappointed, especially when the official posting the scores made an error and initially listed Gouskos as the winner. The error was quickly corrected.

The distances were well off George Gray’s (CAN) world record of 14.32, but George Robertson, a British athlete who competed in the discus throw, noted that this was due to the size of the square, which “corresponded with no known rules, although the event was purported to be held under English rules.”