Aug. 14, 2008
IAAF LIVE Coverage | Men's Shot Put Start List
COLUMBIA, Mo.--Later this Thursday evening (Missouri time) Tiger post-collegian Christian Cantwell will begin his 12-hour pursuit in Beijing for Olympic glory in the men's shot put. Track & Field's first day at the Beijing Olympics will house the qualifying rounds and finals of the shot, as those who finish in the top three will be the first crowned in the sport of Athletics at these games. Coverage will be aired on a tape-delay basis nationally on NBC with the airing of the qualification round occurring Friday morning (Missouri time) and the final round airing Friday evening (Missouri time).
Tonight's qualification round will actually take place Friday morning (Beijing time), beginning at 9:05 a.m. With a 13-hour time difference, those in America will get a night's rest between Cantwell's qualification round and final, while Cantwell and the Mizzou staff members onsite will not.
There are 45 contestants on the qualification start list. A mark of 20.40 meters (66 feet, 11¼ inches) on any of the qualifying round's three attempts will give that athlete an automatic bid into the finals that will be held later in the day. A minimum of 12 will make the final that begins at 9:00 p.m., Friday, Beijing time. The normal trials-final structure will then be used, as the 12+ finalists will receive three throws before the field is once again reduced down to eight. Those eight will also get three throws, and their best among the six will be their final mark. Marks from the qualifying round do not carry over to the final.
Cantwell is in Group A of the qualifying (both groups will compete simultaneously in adjacent rings) along with American Reese Hoffa and is fifth in the throwing order among the 22 athletes in the group.
Qualification:
Beijing time, Fri Aug 15, 9:05 a.m.
Columbia time, Thu Aug 14, 8:05 p.m.
NBC Tape-Delayed Coverage: (CT) Fri Aug 15, 10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Final Round:
Beijing time, Fri Aug 15, 9:00 p.m.
Columbia time, Fri Aug 15, 8:00 a.m.
NBC Tape-Delayed Coverage: (CT) Fri Aug 15, 7-11 p.m.