All eyes on men\’s shot put at 2008 AT&T USA Indoor Championships

BOSTON – Question: What has eight arms, eight legs and weighs more than 1,200 pounds?

    Answer: The four men in the running for bragging rights in the Visa men's shot put at the AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, to be held this weekend at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

    Adam Nelson, Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell and Dan Taylor are imposing enough as individuals, but add them together and they are positively gargantuan, in more ways than one. They make a fearsome foursome that dominates global competition and also have provided a highlight of the Visa Championship Series for the last several years.

    The 2008 AT&T USA Indoor Championships should be no exception. Entering Sunday's competition in the men's shot, two-time Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson has twice set indoor personal bests, including the #3 throw of all time. His toss of 22.40 meters/73 feet 6 February 15 at the Tyson Invitational puts him ever closer to the indoor world and U.S. record of 22.66m/74-1.75 held by Randy Barnes. It was his second straight personal best this indoor season, following his winning throw of 22.07/72-5 February 1 at the 101st Millrose Games.

    But his competitors are conceding nothing to the four-time World Outdoor Championships medalist, who won the world title in 2005.

    "This is an Olympic year," 2007's #1 world ranked thrower, Reese Hoffa points out, "and we've got the 2005 and 2007 world champions (Nelson and Hoffa), 2004 and 2006 world indoor champions (Cantwell and Hoffa). We are very good at showing what we can do. It's been a lot of years that the Americans have been #1 in the world. You look at the Millrose Games, Reebok Boston Indoor Games, we have done nothing but thrown exceptional distances. We just have a bunch of superstars going out there, kicking butt."

    That's putting it modestly. American men have dominated the shot put, worldwide, nearly every year since 2000. The numbers speak for themselves:

    3 Olympic medals (silver by Adam Nelson and bronze by John Godina in 2000, and silver by Nelson in 2004)

    3 World Outdoor titles (Godina in 2001, Nelson in 2005 and Reese Hoffa in 2007)

    3 World Outdoor silver medals (Nelson in 2001, '03 and '07)

    3 World Indoor titles (Godina in 2001, Christian Cantwell in '04 and Hoffa in '06)

    3 World Indoor silver medals (Nelson in 2001, Godina in '03 and Hoffa in '04)

    7 Track & Field News #1 world rankings – Nelson in '00, '02 and '05; Godina in '01, Cantwell in '04, Hoffa in '06. '07. In fact, an American has been #1 world ranked every year from 1994-2007 – that's 13 years! – except 2003.

    Measuring up

    The first thing that most people notice about shot putters is their size. Among Americans, Cantwell and Taylor loom largest. Cantwell is 6-5 and Taylor 6-6, and both men are in the range of 340-350 pounds … at least.

    "My height and weight is definitely an advantage because I weigh a lot more than the ball does, and anytime the weight of you is greater than the weight of the shot it's a good thing," jokes Cantwell. "With that said, it makes the ring a little smaller for me than it is for Reese, who's six feet tall. He can get down and use a little more leverage from his side, and that's why I'm a little more upright than him and don't get as much knee bend. Once I get my mass moving, if I can get it moving in the right direction and stay in the ring, then it's going to go. I don't have to do as many things perfect with my technique. My technique is basically if I get it 80% right it's going to go far."

    Nelson and Hoffa are somewhat diminutive by contrast, measuring at 6-0 and 5-11. Hoffa alone among the two may exceed 300 pounds. That makes Nelson the smallest of a very large litter.

    But size, as they say, is not everything – not even in the shot put. What Nelson lacks in girth he makes up for with speed in the throwing circle and impeccable timing. Though sometimes dwarfed by his competitors, he and he alone among all American track athletes in any event has won a medal at every single World and Olympic competition since 2000. After a string of silvers, winning the gold at the 2005 World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki provided Nelson with a satisfaction that only an Olympic gold medal would surpass.

    "To me … the medals are what people remember when they think about the sport and your legacy," Nelson commented after his victory in Helsinki. "There's nothing worse than being remembered as the guy that could have done it, or should have done it, but never did. [After winning the gold] I thought, wow, this really solidifies or validates a lot of the sacrifices that I've made to get to this point. It was a tremendous feeling, totally overwhelming. It's empowering me to push farther and harder into the future."

    Next generation

    At age 32, Nelson has the most experience, inside and outside the throwing circle. Currently working on his MBA at the University of Virginia, Nelson has worked in the finance industry and dabbled in acting. He and his wife are expecting their first child this fall. Perhaps the most intense looking competitor in the field, Nelson is easily recognizable as the blonde guy storming around the shot put sector, yelling and ripping off his shirt before he throws.

    At 30 years of age, Hoffa, also married, trained for several years with Nelson in Athens, Georgia, before Nelson moved to Virginia for graduate school. Like Nelson, Hoffa is somewhat reserved in one-on-one conversation, but he is known for his colorful personality. He once threw in a mask and a cape as "The Unknown Shot Putter." Interestingly, at that meet he broke through to the top of the professional ranks for the first time. He claims to want to throw in a bear suit made by his mother one day. Look out for a world record if that happens.

    The future is now for Cantwell and Taylor, the two youngest of the group. Cantwell is 27 and may be the most powerful athlete in U.S. track & field. The phrase "a bear of a man" comes immediately to mind when the native of Missouri steps into the circle. Married to former shot putter Teri Steer, Cantwell too will become a daddy this year.

    Taylor won his first major professional meet here at the Reggie Lewis Center, at the 2007 Reebok Boston Indoor Games. The 2004 Ohio State grad is just 25 years old, with a world of potential and success at his doorstep. "I felt good," Taylor had said of his 2007 victory. "It was a good day and a good atmosphere. When they put us out in the middle of the track like that, it helps. The field out there was ridiculous."

    Indeed, ridiculously great fields and competitors are par for the course when it comes to the men's shot put. And that's a good thing.

    For more information on the 2008 AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, visit www.usatf.org

Jill Geer
Director of Communications
Jill.Geer@usatf.org