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WorldNet Service Installation Disk - Cybercathlon Games and Interactive Tour of Olympic Museum (1996).ISO
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00832_Field_st9.txt.txt
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1996-06-03
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The men's shot put event was
featured in the first modern
Olympics in 1896. The women's
event was added in 1948. The
shot is a round ball made of iron or
steel and weighs 16 lbs. for the
men's event, 8 lbs. for the
women's. The shot is pushed from
the shoulder with one hand while
the thrower remains inside a circle.
The thrower hops backward
across the circle, rotates 180
degrees and throws the ball with
full force. In the first Olympics, the
winning throw was under 37'; in
1992, the winner threw the shot
more than 70'.
The shot is another Olympic event
of Celtic origin, part of the 19th
century Scottish Highland Games.
American men dominated the sport
through the 1960s, losing the Gold
only once in all those years. In the
1970s, the Eastern Europeans and
Italians dominated. In 1992, for the
first time since 1968, an American,
Michael Stulce, won Gold. The
women's competition has been
dominated since its inception by the
Soviets and East Germans.