| | Event type

Shot Put, Men

Date	11 August 1984
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	19 from 13 countries

The competition was weakened by the Soviet-led boycott. The top throwers were the three Americans, Michael Carter, Dave Laut, and Augie Wolf, Italy’s Alessandro Andrei and Swiss thrower Werner Günthör. Carter opened with 20.63 (67-8¼) to take the early lead. Andrei improved in both round two and three, his 21.26 (69-9) in the third round being the gold medal toss. Carter also improved in that round with 21.09 (69-2½), his best mark of the competition. Günthör was in third place (20.28 (66-6½)) until round five when Laut pushed the shot out to 20.31 (66-7¾) to move ahead of him. Wolf also passed him in the final round with 20.93 (68-8), just after Laut had improved to the bronze medal mark of 20.97 (68-9¾). Michael Carter turned to pro football right after the Olympics and won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers. He played nine years in the NFL, all with the 49ers. Among track fans, he is probably best known for the high school record he set with the 12-lb. shot in 1979. The record was 24.78 (81-3½) and has not been approached in the 30 years since. It was so dominant that many experts speculated that even the world’s top adult throwers could not do better with the lighter shot.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	489	Alessandro Andrei	ITA	20.18 (3)	21.26 (1)	Gold
2	891	Mike Carter	USA	20.69 (1)	21.09 (2)	Silver
3	914	Dave Laut	USA	20.01 (5)	20.97 (3)	Bronze
4	947	Augie Wolf	USA	20.55 (2)	20.93 (4)
5	788	Werner Günthör	SUI	19.71 (8)	20.28 (5)
6	512	Marco Montelatici	ITA	20.14 (4)	19.98 (6)
7	815	Sören Tallhem	SWE	19.94 (6)	19.81 (7)
8	441	Erik de Bruin	NED	19.28 (10)	19.65 (8)
9	249	Aulis Akonniemi	FIN	19.38 (9)	18.98 (9)
10	163	Gert Weil	CHI	19.94 (7)	18.69 (10)
11	116	Bishop Dolegiewicz	CAN	19.00 (11)	18.39 (11)
12	337	Karsten Stolz	FRG	18.98 (12)	18.31 (12)
13 r1/2	46	Erwin Weitzl	AUT	18.96 (13)	–
14 r1/2	428	Dimitrios Koutsoukis	GRE	18.74 (14)	–
15 r1/2	215	Ahmed Kamel Shatta	EGY	18.58 (15)	–
16 r1/2	816	Yngve Wahlander	SWE	18.28 (16)	–
17 r1/2	209	Mohamed Achouche	EGY	18.11 (17)	–
18 r1/2	115	Matt Catalano	CAN	17.24 (18)	–
19 r1/2	747	Henry Smith	SAM	16.09 (19)	–
DNS	137	Bruno Pauletto	CAN	– (DNS)	–
DNS	270	Kari Töyrylä	FIN	– (DNS)	–
DNS	803	Stefan Fernholm	SWE	– (DNS)	–

Qualifying Round (11 August 1984 — 10:50)

Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 19.70 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Athlete	NOC	Distance
1	Mike Carter	USA	20.69	Q
2	Augie Wolf	USA	20.55	Q
3	Alessandro Andrei	ITA	20.18	Q
4	Marco Montelatici	ITA	20.14	Q
5	Dave Laut	USA	20.01	Q
6	Sören Tallhem	SWE	19.94	Q
7	Gert Weil	CHI	19.94	Q
8	Werner Günthör	SUI	19.71	Q
9	Aulis Akonniemi	FIN	19.38	q
10	Erik de Bruin	NED	19.28	q
11	Bishop Dolegiewicz	CAN	19.00	q
12	Karsten Stolz	FRG	18.98	q
13	Erwin Weitzl	AUT	18.96
14	Dimitrios Koutsoukis	GRE	18.74
15	Ahmed Kamel Shatta	EGY	18.58
16	Yngve Wahlander	SWE	18.28
17	Mohamed Achouche	EGY	18.11
18	Matt Catalano	CAN	17.24
19	Henry Smith	SAM	16.09
DNS	Bruno Pauletto	CAN	–
DNS	Kari Töyrylä	FIN	–
DNS	Stefan Fernholm	SWE	–

Qualifying Round, Group A (11 August 1984)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3
1	1	Augie Wolf	USA	20.55	20.55	-	-
2	2	Alessandro Andrei	ITA	20.18	20.18	-	-
3	8	Dave Laut	USA	20.01	20.01	-	-
4	3	Sören Tallhem	SWE	19.94	19.94	-	-
5	9	Werner Günthör	SUI	19.71	19.28	19.71	-
6	11	Bishop Dolegiewicz	CAN	19.00	19.00	×	18.95
7	6	Ahmed Kamel Shatta	EGY	18.58	18.13	17.95	18.58
8	10	Henry Smith	SAM	16.09	16.09	×	×
DNS	4	Bruno Pauletto	CAN	–	–	–	–
DNS	7	Kari Töyrylä	FIN	–	–	–	–
DNS	5	Stefan Fernholm	SWE	–	–	–	–

Qualifying Round, Group B (11 August 1984)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3
1	4	Mike Carter	USA	20.69	20.69	-	-
2	3	Marco Montelatici	ITA	20.14	20.14	-	-
3	11	Gert Weil	CHI	19.94	19.38	19.94	-
4	2	Aulis Akonniemi	FIN	19.38	19.13	19.34	19.38
5	1	Erik de Bruin	NED	19.28	19.20	19.28	19.07
6	7	Karsten Stolz	FRG	18.98	18.98	×	17.67
7	6	Erwin Weitzl	AUT	18.96	18.03	18.96	×
8	10	Dimitrios Koutsoukis	GRE	18.74	18.74	18.62	18.60
9	5	Yngve Wahlander	SWE	18.28	×	18.28	18.27
10	8	Mohamed Achouche	EGY	18.11	18.11	×	17.14
11	9	Matt Catalano	CAN	17.24	17.10	17.24	16.91

Final Round (11 August 1984 — 18:00)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
1	3	Alessandro Andrei	ITA	21.26	20.41	20.97	21.26	20.55	20.92	20.96
2	10	Mike Carter	USA	21.09	20.63	20.69	21.09	20.42	×	20.38
3	5	Dave Laut	USA	20.97	20.12	18.39	×	20.03	20.31	20.97
4	9	Augie Wolf	USA	20.93	20.04	19.91	19.41	20.08	19.74	20.93
5	11	Werner Günthör	SUI	20.28	20.28	×	×	19.38	×	20.11
6	7	Marco Montelatici	ITA	19.98	19.88	19.26	19.98	19.35	19.85	×
7	4	Sören Tallhem	SWE	19.81	19.81	×	19.54	×	×	-
8	2	Erik de Bruin	NED	19.65	19.65	×	×	-	×	×
9	1	Aulis Akonniemi	FIN	18.98	18.98	×	×	–	–	–
10	6	Gert Weil	CHI	18.69	18.19	18.69	×	–	–	–
11	8	Bishop Dolegiewicz	CAN	18.39	18.39	×	×	–	–	–
12	12	Karsten Stolz	FRG	18.31	18.31	×	18.21	–	–	–