Olympic and World Championship Statistics: Men's Shot Put Edition

Ever wondered how tall and heavy the world’s best shot putters are?

The first table in the series depicts the averages for the last 4 olympic games (Sydney 2000 up until London 2012) while the second table depicts the combined averages of the Men’s Shot Put Olympic and World Championship medalist statistics.

Metric and Imperial units are provided.

Metric

2000 – 2012 Olympics Average Men’s Shot Put

Position	Average Distance Thrown (m)	Average Height (cm)	Average Weight (kg)
1st	21.46	1.93	131.25
2nd	21.3	1.9	133.5
3rd	21.05	1.87	138.5

2000 – 2015 Olympics and World Championships Average Men’s Shot Put

Position	Average Distance Thrown (m)	Average Height (cm)	Average Weight (cm)
1st	21.8	191	133
2nd	21.5	191	128
3rd	21.29	189	136

Imperial

2000 – 2012 Olympics Average Men’s Shot Put

Position	Average Distance Thrown (Feet)	Average Height ( feet inches )	Average Weight (lb)
1st	70.4	6 4	289.35
2nd	69.9	6 3	294.32
3rd	69	6 2	305.34

2000 – 2015 Olympics and World Championships Average Men’s Shot Put

Position	Average Distance Thrown (Feet)	Average Height ( feet inches )	Average Weight (lb)
1st	71.5	6 3	293.21
2nd	70.5	6 3	282.19
3rd	69.8	6 2	299.82

It is interesting to see the effect that the addition of the World Championships has on the averages.

The distances are increased and dissimilarly the Average Height and Average Weight of the shot putter are decreased. The exception to this is for the world championship gold medallist who will be heavier than his Olympic counterpart.

From the results it can be concluded that Male Shot Putters that medal at the World Championships have a tendency to throw further than the olympics equivalent and likewise are slightly smaller.

The limitations should be addressed that only a small sample size has been used. In addition in the same timespan analysed twice as many World Championships have occurred than Olympics.

What are your opinions on this?