| Date | 21 July 1952 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki |
| Participants | 20 from 14 countries |
Between 1949-51, Jim Fuchs, bronze medalist at the 1948 Olympics, was the world’s best shot putter, winning 88 consecutive meets, and breaking the world record four times. However, at the 1951 AAUs, he was beaten by Parry O’Brien. O’Brien in turn was beaten at the 1952 US Trials by Darrow Hooper. But at the Trials, only two inches separated Fuchs, O’Brien, and Hooper, so an American sweep was considered likely.
O’Brien opened the final with 17.41 (57-1½), and this would be good enough for the gold medal. In the final round, Hooper put a scare into him, with 17.39 (57-0¾), but had to settle for silver. Fuchs second consecutive bronze medal gave the US another sweep in the shot put – its sixth one.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1035 | Parry O'Brien |  USA | 16.05 (1) | 17.41 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 1034 | Darrow Hooper | USA | 15.48 (4) | 17.39 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 1033 | Jim Fuchs | USA | 15.29 (=5) | 17.06 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 460 | Oto Grigalka |  URS | 15.90 (2) | 16.78 (4) | |||
| 5 | 706 | Roland Nilsson |  SWE | 15.81 (3) | 16.55 (5) | |||
| 6 | 211 | John Savidge |  GBR | 14.89 (12) | 16.19 (6) | |||
| 7 | 462 | Georgy Fyodorov | URS | 15.16 (7) | 16.06 (7) | |||
| 8 | 520 | Per Stavem |  NOR | 15.12 (8) | 16.02 (8) | |||
| 9 | 907 | Jiří Skobla |  TCH | 15.29 (=5) | 15.92 (9) | |||
| 10 | 582 | Tadeusz Krzyżanowski |  POL | 14.90 (11) | 15.08 (10) | |||
| 11 | 632 | Lucien Guillier |  FRA | 14.62 (13) | 14.84 (11) | |||
| 12 | 261 | Angiolo Profeti |  ITA | 14.93 (10) | 14.74 (12) | |||
| 13 | 283 | Alois Schwabl |  AUT | 15.00 (9) | 14.45 (13) | |||
| 14 r1/2 | 818 | Aapo Perko |  FIN | 14.50 (14) | – | |||
| 15 r1/2 | 819 | Toivo Telen | FIN | 14.30 (15) | – | |||
| 16 r1/2 | 551 | Ramón Rosario |  PUR | 14.21 (16) | – | |||
| 17 r1/2 | 820 | Kaarto Rask | FIN | 14.08 (17) | – | |||
| 18 r1/2 | 386 | Konstantinos Giataganas |  GRE | 14.05 (18) | – | |||
| 19 r1/2 | 210 | John Giles | GBR | 13.73 (19) | – | |||
| 20 r1/2 | 927 | Nuri Turan |  TUR | 13.00 (20) | – | |||
| 360 | Roy Pella |  CAN | – ( | – | ||||
| 384 | Aristidis Roumpanis | GRE | – ( | – | ||||
| 163 | Friðrik Guðmundsson |  ISL | – ( | – | ||||
| 581 | Mieczysław Łomowski | POL | – ( | – |
| Date | 21 July 1952 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | All those reaching 14.60 metres advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Parry O'Brien | USA | 16.05 | 16.05 | - | - | ||
| 2 | 4 | Oto Grigalka | URS | 15.90 | 15.90 | - | - | ||
| 3 | 10 | Roland Nilsson | SWE | 15.81 | 15.81 | - | - | ||
| 4 | 7 | Darrow Hooper | USA | 15.48 | 15.48 | - | - | ||
| =5 | 2 | Jim Fuchs | USA | 15.29 | 15.29 | - | - | ||
| =5 | 20 | Jiří Skobla | TCH | 15.29 | 15.29 | - | - | ||
| 7 | 1 | Georgy Fyodorov | URS | 15.16 | 15.16 | - | - | ||
| 8 | 21 | Per Stavem | NOR | 15.12 | 14.45 | 14.54 | 15.12 | ||
| 9 | 19 | Alois Schwabl | AUT | 15.00 | 15.00 | - | - | ||
| 10 | 14 | Angiolo Profeti | ITA | 14.93 | 14.93 | - | - | ||
| 11 | 8 | Tadeusz Krzyżanowski | POL | 14.90 | 14.11 | 14.90 | - | ||
| 12 | 18 | John Savidge | GBR | 14.89 | 14.89 | - | - | ||
| 13 | 6 | Lucien Guillier | FRA | 14.62 | 14.13 | x | 14.62 | ||
| 14 | 13 | Aapo Perko | FIN | 14.50 | 14.23 | 14.50 | 14.26 | ||
| 15 | 22 | Toivo Telen | FIN | 14.30 | 13.78 | 14.30 | x | ||
| 16 | 16 | Ramón Rosario | PUR | 14.21 | 14.21 | 14.00 | 13.94 | ||
| 17 | 15 | Kaarto Rask | FIN | 14.08 | 14.08 | 13.81 | 13.80 | ||
| 18 | 24 | Konstantinos Giataganas | GRE | 14.05 | 12.06 | 14.05 | x | ||
| 19 | 3 | John Giles | GBR | 13.73 | 13.73 | 13.70 | x | ||
| 20 | 23 | Nuri Turan | TUR | 13.00 | 13.00 | x | x | ||
| 12 | Roy Pella | CAN | – | – | – | – | |||
| 17 | Aristidis Roumpanis | GRE | – | – | – | – | |||
| 5 | Friðrik Guðmundsson | ISL | – | – | – | – | |||
| 9 | Mieczysław Łomowski | POL | – | – | – | – |
| Date | 21 July 1952 — 15:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | Round #4 Distance | Round #5 Distance | Round #6 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Parry O'Brien | USA | 17.41 | 17.41 | 17.21 | 16.79 | 16.87 | 17.12 | 16.53 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Darrow Hooper | USA | 17.39 | 17.02 | 16.59 | 17.08 | 16.90 | 16.93 | 17.39 | ||
| 3 | 13 | Jim Fuchs | USA | 17.06 | 16.93 | x | x | x | 17.06 | x | ||
| 4 | 12 | Oto Grigalka | URS | 16.78 | 16.53 | 16.78 | 15.91 | 16.27 | 16.29 | 16.33 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Roland Nilsson | SWE | 16.55 | 16.55 | 16.08 | 16.33 | x | x | x | ||
| 6 | 6 | John Savidge | GBR | 16.19 | 16.17 | 16.18 | x | 16.19 | 16.03 | x | ||
| 7 | 2 | Georgy Fyodorov | URS | 16.06 | 15.98 | 16.01 | 16.06 | – | – | – | ||
| 8 | 1 | Per Stavem | NOR | 16.02 | 15.14 | 16.02 | 15.31 | – | – | – | ||
| 9 | 9 | Jiří Skobla | TCH | 15.92 | 15.73 | 15.60 | 15.92 | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | 3 | Tadeusz Krzyżanowski | POL | 15.08 | 15.08 | 14.57 | 14.32 | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | 8 | Lucien Guillier | FRA | 14.84 | 13.94 | 14.46 | 14.84 | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | 10 | Angiolo Profeti | ITA | 14.74 | 14.59 | 14.00 | 14.74 | – | – | – | ||
| 13 | 7 | Alois Schwabl | AUT | 14.45 | 14.43 | 14.20 | 14.45 | – | – | – |
