Shot Put – When Continents Collide

The men’s Shot Put at this year’s ExxonMobil Bislett Games is shaping as an intriguing contest at many different levels. Not only will it be a competition involving the biggest and the best throwers on the planet featuring Europe’s finest against the cream of America’s Shot Put talent but it will also be a struggle between the techniques favoured by the leading throwers from both continents.

The Shot Put at the Samsung Diamond League has become a fiercely contested events and spectators all over the world have really enjoyed the rivalry that exists between the sport’s biggest men.

The Europeans will be led by Poland’s Olympic Champion Tomas Majewski who boasts a personal best of 21.95m and Germany’s World Champion David Storl who has hurled the implement 21.78m. Both are very tall athletes, Majewski stands an imposing 2.04m whilst the 21 year old Storl is 1.99m and both favour the more traditional “glide” technique.

The America’s challenge will be headed by Canada’s Dylan Armstrong and USA’s Reese Hoffa. Both who have extraordinary personal bests over 22m. (Armstrong 22.21m and Hoffa 22.43m). Hoffa have been gold medallists at World Championships (both indoor and outdoor ) and both he and Armstrong use the more recently developed “rotational” technique, a skill that has been initiated in the States is the hallmark of their current shot putters from that continent. Hoffa is in a rich vein of form winning the SDL in Shanghai and having ownership of the leading performance in the world this season – 21.73m.

The Shot Put has a rich history in the Bislett stadium and on two occasions the world record has been established on it’s in field. In 1934, Jack Torrance, and in 1949 it was the turn of Jim Fuchs. Both were from the USA, so history and tradition are on side of Cantwell and Hoffa. However all the competitors will feel the excitement generated by the Bislett crowd and performances in access of 22m are certainly a possibility.