Aug. 14, 2008

COLUMBIA, Mo. —(BEIJING) The sun has finally came out in Beijing, just in time for the first day of track & field competition in the XXIX Olympiad. Tiger post-collegian Christian Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) qualified for the 12-man finals on Thursday evening, Missouri time (Friday morning, Beijing time) with a toss of 67 feet, 2¼ inches (20.48m) on his second attempt, eclipsing the automatic qualifying mark of 66-11¼ (20.40m). The final will be held Friday morning, Missouri time (Friday evening, Beijing time) with tape-delayed coverage shown on NBC.

 

The qualifying round will most likely be shown on NBC Friday morning in the states while the actual final will occur. The coverage of the finals is most likely being held for the ratings-rich primetime lineup Friday evening.

 

Cantwell had tied for the third best qualifying mark with Belarus' Andrei Mikhneivch. Fellow Americans Reese Hoffa and Adam Nelson also qualified, both doing so on their first attempts. The USA and Belarus qualified all three of its competitors to the finals. 2004 Gold medalist Yuriy Bilonoh of Ukraine also made the finals field. Qualifying marks will not carry over to the evening final.

 

RESULTS

Men's Shot Put, Qualification Round

Advancers (Q, Automatic qualifier; q, at-large qualifier; 20.40m, auto qualifying mark)

1. Tomasz Majewski, Poland, 21.04mQ, 69-½, PB

2. Adam Nelson, USA, 20.56mQ, 67-5½

=3. Christian Cantwell, USA, 20.48mQ, 67-2¼

=3. Andrei Mikhnevich, Belarus, 20.48mQ, 67-2¼

5. Dylan Armstrong, Canada, 20.43mQ, 67-½

6. Reese Hoffa, USA, 20.41mQ, 66-11½

7. Pavel Lyzhyn, Belarus, 20.36mq, 66-9¾

8. Pavel Sofin, Russia, 20.29mq, 66-7

9. Yuriy Bilonoh, Ukraine, 20.16mq, 66-1¾

10. Rutger Smith, Netherlands, 20.13mq, 66-½

11. Yury Bialou, Belarus, 20.12mq, 66-¼

12. Ivan Yushkov, Russia, 20.02mq, 65-8¼

 

 

 

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