| | Event type

Shot Put, Men

Date	26 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	36 from 24 countries

Randy Barnes had set the world record of 23.12 (75-10¼) in 1990 and had the year’s best throw of 22.40 (73-6), and was favored. But he struggled in the final. He opened with only 19.46 (63-10¼), as Oleksandr Bahach (UKR) led the first round with 20.41 (66-11½). Barnes got 20.44 (67-0¾) in round two, but the lead was taken by Italy’s Paolo Dal Soglio with 20.65 (67-9), and Bagach improved to 20.50 (67-3¼). American John Godina came thru in the fourth and fifth rounds with 20.64 (67-8¾) and 20.79 (68-2½), to move into the lead in round five. Barnes was only in fourth place heading into the final round, but he produced – tossing the shot 21.62 (70-11¼) for the gold medal. Bagach also improved, bumping Dal Soglio out of the medals with 20.75 (68-1). In May 1990, Barnes had tested positive for methyltestosterone and was banned for two years. In April 1998, he tested positive for androstenedione and was banned for life. The life ban was controversial as androstenedione was an over-the-counter supplement in the United States and was not a banned drug internationally until a few months before Barnes’s positive test. He readily admitted taking it, not knowing it was banned. It was the same drug taken by major league home run king Mark McGwire, who also admitted to taking it. Bronze medalist Bagach also was subsequently banned for life. He had tested positive in 1989 for testosterone, tested positive for ephedrine in 1997 at the World Championships, and was banned for life in 2000 after a positive doping test for anabolic steroids.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	Randy Barnes	USA	20.42 (4)	21.62 (1)	Gold
2	John Godina	USA	20.54 (2)	20.79 (2)	Silver
3	Oleksandr Bahach	UKR	20.23 (5)	20.75 (3)	Bronze
4	Paolo Dal Soglio	ITA	20.58 (1)	20.74 (4)
5	Oliver-Sven Buder	GER	20.43 (3)	20.51 (5)
6	Roman Virastiuk	UKR	19.81 (7)	20.45 (6)
7	C. J. Hunter	USA	19.95 (6)	20.39 (7)
8	Dragan Perić	SCG	19.61 (8)	20.07 (8)
9	Dzmitry Hancharuk	BLR	19.57 (9)	19.79 (9)
10	Bilal Saad Mubarak	QAT	19.39 (12)	19.33 (10)
11	Corrado Fantini	ITA	19.40 (11)	19.30 (11)
AC r2/2	Oleksandr Klymenko	UKR	19.45 (10)	– (NM)
13 r1/2	Dirk Urban	GER	19.39 (13)	–
14 r1/2	Mika Halvari	FIN	19.37 (14)	–
15 r1/2	Manuel Martínez	ESP	19.12 (15)	–
16 r1/2	Michael Mertens	GER	19.07 (16)	–
17 r1/2	Kent Larsson	SWE	19.05 (17)	–
18 r1/2	Arsi Harju	FIN	19.01 (18)	–
19 r1/2	Giorgio Venturi	ITA	18.98 (19)	–
20 r1/2	Yevgeny Palchikov	RUS	18.96 (20)	–
21 r1/2	Miroslav Menc	CZE	18.69 (21)	–
22 r1/2	Gert Weil	CHI	18.67 (22)	–
23 r1/2	Yojer Medina	VEN	18.53 (23)	–
24 r1/2	Ilias Louka	CYP	18.48 (24)	–
25 r1/2	Chima Ugwu	NGR	18.39 (25)	–
26 r1/2	Aleksey Shidlovsky	RUS	18.37 (26)	–
27 r1/2	Shaun Pickering	GBR	18.29 (27)	–
28 r1/2	Michalis Louka	CYP	18.23 (28)	–
29 r1/2	Khaled Al-Khalidi	KSA	18.22 (29)	–
30 r1/2	Saulius Kleiza	LTU	18.21 (30)	–
31 r1/2	Brad Snyder	CAN	17.98 (31)	–
32 r1/2	Viktar Bulat	BLR	17.29 (32)	–
33 r1/2	Sergey Kot	UZB	16.51 (33)	–
34 r1/2	Anthony Leiato	ASA	13.02 (34)	–
AC r1/2	Jenő Kóczián	HUN	– (NM)	–
AC r1/2	Sergey Rubtsov	KAZ	– (NM)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	26 July 1996 — 10:05
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 19.80 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Distance	2nd-Best Mark Distance
1	Paolo Dal Soglio	ITA	20.58	–	Q
2	John Godina	USA	20.54	–	Q
3	Oliver-Sven Buder	GER	20.43	–	Q
4	Randy Barnes	USA	20.42	–	Q
5	Oleksandr Bahach	UKR	20.23	–	Q
6	C. J. Hunter	USA	19.95	–	Q
7	Roman Virastiuk	UKR	19.81	–	Q
8	Dragan Perić	SCG	19.61	–	q
9	Dzmitry Hancharuk	BLR	19.57	–	q
10	Oleksandr Klymenko	UKR	19.45	–	q
11	Corrado Fantini	ITA	19.40	–	q
12	Bilal Saad Mubarak	QAT	19.39	19.28	q
13	Dirk Urban	GER	19.39	19.23
14	Mika Halvari	FIN	19.37	–
15	Manuel Martínez	ESP	19.12	–
16	Michael Mertens	GER	19.07	–
17	Kent Larsson	SWE	19.05	–
18	Arsi Harju	FIN	19.01	–
19	Giorgio Venturi	ITA	18.98	–
20	Yevgeny Palchikov	RUS	18.96	–
21	Miroslav Menc	CZE	18.69	–
22	Gert Weil	CHI	18.67	–
23	Yojer Medina	VEN	18.53	–
24	Ilias Louka	CYP	18.48	–
25	Chima Ugwu	NGR	18.39	–
26	Aleksey Shidlovsky	RUS	18.37	–
27	Shaun Pickering	GBR	18.29	–
28	Michalis Louka	CYP	18.23	–
29	Khaled Al-Khalidi	KSA	18.22	–
30	Saulius Kleiza	LTU	18.21	–
31	Brad Snyder	CAN	17.98	–
32	Viktar Bulat	BLR	17.29	–
33	Sergey Kot	UZB	16.51	–
34	Anthony Leiato	ASA	13.02	–
NM	Jenő Kóczián	HUN	–	–
NM	Sergey Rubtsov	KAZ	–	–

Group A

Date	26 July 1996

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	Oliver-Sven Buder	GER	20.43	19.76	20.43	-
2	Randy Barnes	USA	20.42	x	19.70	20.42
3	Roman Virastiuk	UKR	19.81	19.81	-	-
4	Dragan Perić	SCG	19.61	19.61	x	19.61
5	Dzmitry Hancharuk	BLR	19.57	19.57	x	19.17
6	Corrado Fantini	ITA	19.40	18.63	19.40	19.00
7	Manuel Martínez	ESP	19.12	19.12	18.93	18.90
8	Michael Mertens	GER	19.07	18.57	18.90	19.07
9	Kent Larsson	SWE	19.05	18.60	18.86	19.05
10	Arsi Harju	FIN	19.01	18.56	19.01	x
11	Giorgio Venturi	ITA	18.98	18.60	18.98	18.52
12	Ilias Louka	CYP	18.48	18.48	17.98	x
13	Chima Ugwu	NGR	18.39	18.39	18.35	18.33
14	Aleksey Shidlovsky	RUS	18.37	17.84	18.34	18.37
15	Saulius Kleiza	LTU	18.21	18.08	18.21	18.18
16	Anthony Leiato	ASA	13.02	12.28	x	13.02
NM	Jenő Kóczián	HUN	–	x	x	x
NM	Sergey Rubtsov	KAZ	–	x	-	-

Group B

Date	26 July 1996

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Distance	2nd-Best Mark Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	Paolo Dal Soglio	ITA	20.58	–	19.43	20.58	-
2	John Godina	USA	20.54	–	20.54	-	-
3	Oleksandr Bahach	UKR	20.23	–	20.23	-	-
4	C. J. Hunter	USA	19.95	–	19.95	-	-
5	Oleksandr Klymenko	UKR	19.45	–	19.11	19.45	x
6	Bilal Saad Mubarak	QAT	19.39	19.28	19.39	19.23	19.28
7	Dirk Urban	GER	19.39	19.23	19.39	18.82	19.23
8	Mika Halvari	FIN	19.37	–	19.37	x	18.78
9	Yevgeny Palchikov	RUS	18.96	–	18.75	18.83	18.96
10	Miroslav Menc	CZE	18.69	–	18.69	18.13	18.42
11	Gert Weil	CHI	18.67	–	18.64	18.67	18.58
12	Yojer Medina	VEN	18.53	–	x	18.49	18.53
13	Shaun Pickering	GBR	18.29	–	18.29	18.23	17.45
14	Michalis Louka	CYP	18.23	–	18.23	18.03	18.12
15	Khaled Al-Khalidi	KSA	18.22	–	18.22	x	17.83
16	Brad Snyder	CAN	17.98	–	17.98	x	x
17	Viktar Bulat	BLR	17.29	–	16.70	16.67	17.29
18	Sergey Kot	UZB	16.51	–	16.51	x	16.05

Final Round

Date	26 July 1996 — 20:00

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance	Round #4 Distance	Round #5 Distance	Round #6 Distance
1	Randy Barnes	USA	21.62	19.46	20.44	x	20.26	20.32	21.62
2	John Godina	USA	20.79	x	19.91	19.98	20.64	20.79	x
3	Oleksandr Bahach	UKR	20.75	20.41	20.50	20.29	x	x	20.75
4	Paolo Dal Soglio	ITA	20.74	20.12	20.65	19.92	20.74	20.60	x
5	Oliver-Sven Buder	GER	20.51	20.16	19.92	20.37	20.13	20.51	19.71
6	Roman Virastiuk	UKR	20.45	19.46	19.86	20.32	20.21	20.45	x
7	C. J. Hunter	USA	20.39	19.99	20.09	20.39	x	20.25	20.35
8	Dragan Perić	SCG	20.07	19.66	19.75	19.98	x	x	20.07
9	Dzmitry Hancharuk	BLR	19.79	x	19.79	x	–	–	–
10	Bilal Saad Mubarak	QAT	19.33	19.11	19.33	x	–	–	–
11	Corrado Fantini	ITA	19.30	19.30	x	x	–	–	–
NM	Oleksandr Klymenko	UKR	–	x	x	x	–	–	–