| | 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)	–
DNS	81	Dieter Prollius	GDR	– (DNS)	–
DNS	176	George Puce	CAN	– (DNS)	–
DNS	482	Joe Kashmiri	IRI	– (DNS)	–
DNS	596	Lahcen Samsam	MAR	– (DNS)	–
DNS	725	Ricky Bruch	SWE	– (DNS)	–

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	Number	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	287	Randy Matson	USA	20.68	QOR
2	806	Eduard Gushchin	URS	19.88	Q
3	317	George Woods	USA	19.79	Q
4	72	Dieter Hoffmann	GDR	19.75	Q
5	352	Pierre Colnard	FRA	19.57	Q
6	5	Heinfried Birlenbach	FRG	19.43	Q
7	286	Dave Maggard	USA	19.26	Q
8	68	Uwe Grabe	GDR	19.15	Q
9	672	Władysław Komar	POL	19.09	Q
10	13	Traugott Glöckler	FRG	19.08	Q
11	653	Les Mills	NZL	19.00	Q
12	429	Jeff Teale	GBR	18.87	q
13	475	Vilmos Varjú	HUN	18.86
14	345	Arnjolt Beer	FRA	18.72
15	744	Edy Hubacher	SUI	18.54
16	488	Guðmundur Hermannsson	ISL	17.35
17	437	Georgios Lemonis	GRE	16.43
18	628	Rolando Mendoza	NCA	13.33
19	240	Mauricio Jubis	ESA	12.92
DNS	81	Dieter Prollius	GDR	–
DNS	176	George Puce	CAN	–
DNS	482	Joe Kashmiri	IRI	–
DNS	596	Lahcen Samsam	MAR	–
DNS	725	Ricky Bruch	SWE	–

Group A

Date	13 October 1968

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	12	Randy Matson	USA	20.68	20.68	-	-	OR
2	3	Eduard Gushchin	URS	19.88	19.88	-	-
3	4	George Woods	USA	19.79	19.79	-	-
4	1	Dieter Hoffmann	GDR	19.75	18.30	19.75	-
5	6	Heinfried Birlenbach	FRG	19.43	19.43	-	-
6	8	Dave Maggard	USA	19.26	18.73	19.26	-
7	11	Uwe Grabe	GDR	19.15	18.08	18.59	19.15
8	5	Władysław Komar	POL	19.09	19.09	-	-
9	9	Traugott Glöckler	FRG	19.08	18.89	19.08	-
10	7	Vilmos Varjú	HUN	18.86	18.69	x	18.86
DNS	2	Dieter Prollius	GDR	–	–	–	–
DNS	10	George Puce	CAN	–	–	–	–

Group B

Date	13 October 1968

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	6	Pierre Colnard	FRA	19.57	19.57	-	-
2	12	Les Mills	NZL	19.00	18.56	19.00	-
3	2	Jeff Teale	GBR	18.87	18.76	x	18.87
4	5	Arnjolt Beer	FRA	18.72	18.72	x	x
5	7	Edy Hubacher	SUI	18.54	18.54	18.38	x
6	8	Guðmundur Hermannsson	ISL	17.35	16.24	16.77	17.35
7	1	Georgios Lemonis	GRE	16.43	16.43	x	x
8	10	Rolando Mendoza	NCA	13.33	11.39	13.33	13.32
9	11	Mauricio Jubis	ESA	12.92	12.04	12.46	12.92
DNS	4	Joe Kashmiri	IRI	–	–	–	–
DNS	3	Lahcen Samsam	MAR	–	–	–	–
DNS	9	Ricky Bruch	SWE	–	–	–	–

Final Round

Date	14 October 1968 — 15:30

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	1	Randy Matson	USA	20.54	20.54	20.09	18.67	20.15	20.02	20.18
2	4	George Woods	USA	20.12	20.12	x	x	-	19.19	x
3	2	Eduard Gushchin	URS	20.09	20.09	19.45	19.69	x	x	19.41
4	3	Dieter Hoffmann	GDR	20.00	20.00	19.33	19.75	19.68	19.85	19.86
5	7	Dave Maggard	USA	19.43	19.43	19.33	18.46	18.90	19.15	x
6	9	Władysław Komar	POL	19.28	18.66	19.28	18.54	x	x	19.21
7	8	Uwe Grabe	GDR	19.03	18.20	18.74	19.03	17.43	17.66	18.34
8	6	Heinfried Birlenbach	FRG	18.80	18.80	18.48	x	18.13	18.67	x
9	5	Pierre Colnard	FRA	18.79	18.62	x	18.79	–	–	–
10	12	Jeff Teale	GBR	18.65	18.65	18.57	18.60	–	–	–
11	11	Les Mills	NZL	18.18	18.18	18.01	17.95	–	–	–
12	10	Traugott Glöckler	FRG	18.14	x	17.20	18.14	–	–	–