| | Event type
Shot Put, Men
| Date | 13 – 14 October 1968 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México |
| Participants | 19 from 14 countries |
By 1968 the mantle of best shot putter in the world had fallen to the shoulders of the 1964 silver medalist, Randy Matson. Matson had set five world records since 1965. The most important came on 8 May 1965 in the Southwest Conference Meet, when he threw 20.95 (68-8¾) and followed that with 21.52. The second record was 70-7¼, the first throw ever over 70 feet. But in April 1967 he improved that by nearly a full foot, throwing 21.78 (71-5½). Matson opened with 20.54 (67-4¾) in Mexico and that settled the gold medal – it would be his best put of the competition. In fact all the top four had their best throws in round one – George Woods (USA) with 20.12 (66-0¼), Eduard Gushchin (URS) with 20.09 (65-11), and Dieter Hoffmann (GDR) with 20.00 (65-7½).
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 287 | Randy Matson |  USA | 20.68 (1) | 20.54 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 317 | George Woods | USA | 19.79 (3) | 20.12 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 806 | Eduard Gushchin |  URS | 19.88 (2) | 20.09 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 72 | Dieter Hoffmann |  GDR | 19.75 (4) | 20.00 (4) | |||
| 5 | 286 | Dave Maggard | USA | 19.26 (7) | 19.43 (5) | |||
| 6 | 672 | Władysław Komar |  POL | 19.09 (9) | 19.28 (6) | |||
| 7 | 68 | Uwe Grabe | GDR | 19.15 (8) | 19.03 (7) | |||
| 8 | 5 | Heinfried Birlenbach |  FRG | 19.43 (6) | 18.80 (8) | |||
| 9 | 352 | Pierre Colnard |  FRA | 19.57 (5) | 18.79 (9) | |||
| 10 | 429 | Jeff Teale |  GBR | 18.87 (12) | 18.65 (10) | |||
| 11 | 653 | Les Mills |  NZL | 19.00 (11) | 18.18 (11) | |||
| 12 | 13 | Traugott Glöckler | FRG | 19.08 (10) | 18.14 (12) | |||
| 13 r1/2 | 475 | Vilmos Varjú |  HUN | 18.86 (13) | – | |||
| 14 r1/2 | 345 | Arnjolt Beer | FRA | 18.72 (14) | – | |||
| 15 r1/2 | 744 | Edy Hubacher |  SUI | 18.54 (15) | – | |||
| 16 r1/2 | 488 | Guðmundur Hermannsson |  ISL | 17.35 (16) | – | |||
| 17 r1/2 | 437 | Georgios Lemonis |  GRE | 16.43 (17) | – | |||
| 18 r1/2 | 628 | Rolando Mendoza |  NCA | 13.33 (18) | – | |||
| 19 r1/2 | 240 | Mauricio Jubis |  ESA | 12.92 (19) | – | |||
| 81 | Dieter Prollius | GDR | – ( | – | ||||
| 176 | George Puce |  CAN | – ( | – | ||||
| 482 | Joe Kashmiri |  IRI | – ( | – | ||||
| 596 | Lahcen Samsam |  MAR | – ( | – | ||||
| 725 | Ricky Bruch |  SWE | – ( | – |
Qualifying Round
| Date | 13 October 1968 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 18.90 metres advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Matson | USA | 20.68 | ||
| 2 | Eduard Gushchin | URS | 19.88 | ||
| 3 | George Woods | USA | 19.79 | ||
| 4 | Dieter Hoffmann | GDR | 19.75 | ||
| 5 | Pierre Colnard | FRA | 19.57 | ||
| 6 | Heinfried Birlenbach | FRG | 19.43 | ||
| 7 | Dave Maggard | USA | 19.26 | ||
| 8 | Uwe Grabe | GDR | 19.15 | ||
| 9 | Władysław Komar | POL | 19.09 | ||
| 10 | Traugott Glöckler | FRG | 19.08 | ||
| 11 | Les Mills | NZL | 19.00 | ||
| 12 | Jeff Teale | GBR | 18.87 | ||
| 13 | Vilmos Varjú | HUN | 18.86 | ||
| 14 | Arnjolt Beer | FRA | 18.72 | ||
| 15 | Edy Hubacher | SUI | 18.54 | ||
| 16 | Guðmundur Hermannsson | ISL | 17.35 | ||
| 17 | Georgios Lemonis | GRE | 16.43 | ||
| 18 | Rolando Mendoza | NCA | 13.33 | ||
| 19 | Mauricio Jubis | ESA | 12.92 | ||
| Dieter Prollius | GDR | – | |||
| George Puce | CAN | – | |||
| Joe Kashmiri | IRI | – | |||
| Lahcen Samsam | MAR | – | |||
| Ricky Bruch | SWE | – |
Group A
| Date | 13 October 1968 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | R1 | R2 | R3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 287 | Randy Matson | USA | 20.68 | 20.68 (1) | - (1) | - (NP) | ||
| 2 | 806 | Eduard Gushchin | URS | 19.88 | 19.88 (2) | - (2) | - (NP) | ||
| 3 | 317 | George Woods | USA | 19.79 | 19.79 (3) | - (3) | - (NP) | ||
| 4 | 72 | Dieter Hoffmann | GDR | 19.75 | 18.30 (9) | 19.75 (4) | - (NP) | ||
| 5 | 5 | Heinfried Birlenbach | FRG | 19.43 | 19.43 (4) | - (5) | - (NP) | ||
| 6 | 286 | Dave Maggard | USA | 19.26 | 18.73 (7) | 19.26 (6) | - (NP) | ||
| 7 | 68 | Uwe Grabe | GDR | 19.15 | 18.08 (10) | 18.59 (10) | 19.15 (NP) | ||
| 8 | 672 | Władysław Komar | POL | 19.09 | 19.09 (5) | - (7) | - (NP) | ||
| 9 | 13 | Traugott Glöckler | FRG | 19.08 | 18.89 (6) | 19.08 (8) | - (NP) | ||
| 10 | 475 | Vilmos Varjú | HUN | 18.86 | 18.69 (8) | x (9) | 18.86 (NP) | ||
| 81 | Dieter Prollius | GDR | – | – | – | – | |||
| 176 | George Puce | CAN | – | – | – | – |
Group B
| Date | 13 October 1968 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | R1 | R2 | R3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 352 | Pierre Colnard | FRA | 19.57 | 19.57 (1) | - (1) | - (NP) | ||
| 2 | 653 | Les Mills | NZL | 19.00 | 18.56 (4) | 19.00 (2) | - (NP) | ||
| 3 | 429 | Jeff Teale | GBR | 18.87 | 18.76 (2) | x (3) | 18.87 (NP) | ||
| 4 | 345 | Arnjolt Beer | FRA | 18.72 | 18.72 (3) | x (4) | x (NP) | ||
| 5 | 744 | Edy Hubacher | SUI | 18.54 | 18.54 (5) | 18.38 (5) | x (NP) | ||
| 6 | 488 | Guðmundur Hermannsson | ISL | 17.35 | 16.24 (7) | 16.77 (6) | 17.35 (NP) | ||
| 7 | 437 | Georgios Lemonis | GRE | 16.43 | 16.43 (6) | x (7) | x (NP) | ||
| 8 | 628 | Rolando Mendoza | NCA | 13.33 | 11.39 (9) | 13.33 (8) | 13.32 (NP) | ||
| 9 | 240 | Mauricio Jubis | ESA | 12.92 | 12.04 (8) | 12.46 (9) | 12.92 (NP) | ||
| 482 | Joe Kashmiri | IRI | – | – | – | – | |||
| 596 | Lahcen Samsam | MAR | – | – | – | – | |||
| 725 | Ricky Bruch | SWE | – | – | – | – |
Final Round
| Date | 14 October 1968 — 15:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 | Round #2 | Round #3 | Round #4 | Round #5 | Round #6 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 287 | Randy Matson | USA | 20.54 | 20.54 (1) | 20.09 (1) | 18.67 (1) | 20.15 (1) | 20.02 (1) | 20.18 (NP) | ||
| 2 | 317 | George Woods | USA | 20.12 | 20.12 (2) | x (2) | x (2) | - (2) | 19.19 (2) | x (NP) | ||
| 3 | 806 | Eduard Gushchin | URS | 20.09 | 20.09 (3) | 19.45 (3) | 19.69 (3) | x (3) | x (3) | 19.41 (NP) | ||
| 4 | 72 | Dieter Hoffmann | GDR | 20.00 | 20.00 (4) | 19.33 (4) | 19.75 (4) | 19.68 (4) | 19.85 (4) | 19.86 (NP) | ||
| 5 | 286 | Dave Maggard | USA | 19.43 | 19.43 (5) | 19.33 (5) | 18.46 (5) | 18.90 (5) | 19.15 (5) | x (NP) | ||
| 6 | 672 | Władysław Komar | POL | 19.28 | 18.66 (7) | 19.28 (6) | 18.54 (6) | x (6) | x (6) | 19.21 (NP) | ||
| 7 | 68 | Uwe Grabe | GDR | 19.03 | 18.20 (10) | 18.74 (8) | 19.03 (7) | 17.43 (7) | 17.66 (7) | 18.34 (NP) | ||
| 8 | 5 | Heinfried Birlenbach | FRG | 18.80 | 18.80 (6) | 18.48 (7) | x (8) | 18.13 (8) | 18.67 (8) | x (NP) | ||
| 9 | 352 | Pierre Colnard | FRA | 18.79 | 18.62 (9) | x (10) | 18.79 (9) | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | 429 | Jeff Teale | GBR | 18.65 | 18.65 (8) | 18.57 (9) | 18.60 (10) | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | 653 | Les Mills | NZL | 18.18 | 18.18 (11) | 18.01 (11) | 17.95 (11) | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | 13 | Traugott Glöckler | FRG | 18.14 | x (NP) | 17.20 (12) | 18.14 (12) | – | – | – |