1908 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Shot Put (Men)

sport	athletics
discipline	Shot put
gender	Men
place	White City Stadium
Attendees	26 athletes from 8 countries
Competition phase	July 16, 1908
Medalist
gold	Ralph Rose ( USA )
silver	Denis Horgan ( GBR )
bronze	John Garrels ( USA )

The shot put men at the 1908 Olympic Games in London was on 16 July 1908 in the White City Stadium decided. On the morning of the same day a qualification took place, from which three athletes qualified for the competition.

Olympic champion was Ralph Rose from the United States, the Irishman Denis Horgan , who started for Great Britain, won the silver and the American John Garrels the bronze medal.

Records

The world records in athletics were still unofficial at the time.

World record	15.12 m	United States	Ralph Rose	Montreal ( Canada ), September 21, 1907
Olympic record	14.81 m	United States	Ralph Rose	Final of St. Louis ( USA ), August 31, 1904

There were no record improvements or settings in this discipline at the 1908 Olympics.

Results

qualification

The qualification was held in four staggered groups. The results of these groups were combined. Only the three participants who had achieved the best distances in the qualification could contest the final competition. The results achieved in the preliminary fight were included in the overall ranking. In both the qualification and the final, the participants had three attempts each.

Group A

athlete	country	Width (m)
Wesley Coe	United States	13.07
Jalmari Sauli	Finland	12.58
Lee Talbott	United States	11.63
Juho Halme	Finland	k. A.
Charles Lagarde	France
Henry Leeke	Great Britain
John Barrett	Great Britain
Istvan Mudin	Hungary

In the literature from zur Megede mentioned below , Lee Talbott is listed with a width of 12.93 m, deviating from the above result.

Group B

athlete	country	Width (m)
John Garrels	United States	13.18
Bill Horr	United States	12.83
Wilbur Burroughs	United States	k. A.
Martin Sheridan	United States
Tom Nicolson	Great Britain
Michalis Dorizas	Greece
Verner Järvinen	Finland
Hugo Wieslander	Sweden

There is a slight deviation in zur Megede for Marquis Bill Horr. It is listed there with a width of 12.82 m.

Group C

athlete	country	Width (m)
Denis Horgan	United States	13.33
Edward Barrett	Great Britain	12.89
Elmer Niklander	Finland	k. A.
Bruno Ziliacus	Finland

Here, too, there is a deviation in the centimeter range at zur Megede . For Edward Barrett, the author gives 12.88 m as the width.

Group D

athlete	country	Width (m)
Ralph Rose	United States	14.08
André Tison	France	k. A.
Mór Kóczán	Hungary
Nikolaos Georgandas	Greece
Arne Halse	Norway

Final and final result of the best eight

Result according to Sports Reference space Surname country Width (m) 1 Ralph Rose  United States 14.21 2 Denis Horgan  GBR 13.62 3 John Garrels  United States 13.18 4th Wesley Coe  United States 13.07 5 Edward Barrett  GBR 12.89 6th Bill Horr  United States 12.83 7th Jalmari Sauli  FIN 12.58 8th Lee Talbott  United States 11.63

Result to the Megede space Surname country Width (m) 1 Ralph Rose  United States 14.21 2 Denis Horgan  GBR 13.62 3 John Garrels  United States 13.18 4th Wesley Coe  United States 13.07 5 Lee Talbott  United States 12.93 6th Edward Barrett  GBR 12.88 7th Bill Horr  United States 12.82 8th Jalmari Sauli  FIN 12.58

The world record holder and Olympic champion of 1904 , Ralph Rose, was considered a huge favorite and fulfilled expectations. The Irish Denis Horgan, who in 1900 and 1904 was not allowed to take part in the Olympic competitions as the world record holder at the time, was finally able to face the competition here. As a 39-year-old, he was now past his performance peak, but was able to take home a silver medal. He started for the UK. The bronze was won by the American John Garrels in front of his compatriot Wesley Coe, the Olympic runner-up in 1904 . Numerous athletes who were successful in the shot put or other disciplines did not make it into the top eight. These included the double Olympic champion in the discus throw from 1904 and 1908, Martin Sheridan, the Swedish Olympic champion in the decathlon from 1912 , Hugo Wieslander, the Finnish Olympic runner-up in the two-armed discus throw from 1912 , Elmer Niklander, and other athletes.

Since there are deviations from rank five downwards in the literature from zur Megede , the results are compared in the two tables above.

• 

  Olympic Champion Ralph Rose, USA. who played a dominant role in the shot put for years

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  The Olympic third John Garrels, USA, here  throwing a discus

• 

  The American Wesley Coe, silver medalist in 1904 , finished fourth

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  The US Olympic sixth Marquis Bill Horr, here throwing a discus

• 

  Lee Talbot from the United States finished eighth, also fifth in the Olympic  hammer throw

• 

  The width of the Finn Juho Halme was not enough for the final

• 

  The Hungarian István Mudin was also eliminated from the qualification

• 

  The American Wilbur Burroughs did not reach the final

• 

  The double Olympic champion in the discus throw, Martin Sheridan - here in 1906 - failed in the qualification

• 

  The Finn Verner Järvinen - Olympic third in the discus throw, Greek style - did not reach the final either

• 

  The Swedish Olympic champion in the decathlon of 1912 , Hugo Wieslander not make it past the qualification

• 

  The Finnish Olympic runner-up in the two-armed discus throw from 1912 , Elmer Niklander, did not make it to the final

literature

• Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• Sports-Reference, Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Shot Put , accessed August 31, 2018
• Olympic Games London 1908, Athletics , IOC page on athletics at the 1908 Olympic Games at olympic.org, English, accessed 31 August 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 88