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Randy Barnes

Randy Barnes
1994-04 Randy Barnes.JPG
Barnes at the UTEP Sierra Medical invitational meet in 1994
Personal information
Full name Eric Randolph Barnes
Born (1966-06-16) June 16, 1966 (age 50)
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Height 6 ft 4 12 in (194 cm)
Weight 291 lb (132 kg)

Eric Randolph "Randy" Barnes (born June 16, 1966) is an American former shot putter who holds both the current outdoor and indoor world records for the event. He won silver at the 1988 Olympics and gold at the 1996 Olympics. As of 2016, both of Barnes's records still stand. Only one thrower has been within 60 centimetres (24 in) of the outdoor record in the last 10 years. Barnes was banned for 27 months in 1990 for anabolic steroid usage, before he received a lifetime ban in 1998 after testing positive for androstenedione.

Barnes was born in Charleston, West Virginia, grew up in nearby St. Albans, and began throwing shot put in high school. In 1985, he threw an impressive 20.36 metres (66.8 ft) with the prep shot of 5.4 kilograms (12 lb). After graduating from St. Albans High School in 1985, he attended Texas A&M University where he broke school records (set by Randy Matson) with a throw of 21.88 metres (71.8 ft) with the 7.26 kilograms (16.0 lb) full size shot. While at A&M, Randy worked with hall of famer conditioning coach Istvan Javorek.

He went to the 1988 Seoul Olympics where he threw 22.39 metres (73.5 ft) and earned a silver medal at only 22. He came second to Ulf Timmermann of East Germany, who threw 22.47 metres (73.7 ft). On January 20, 1989, he set a new indoor world record at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles with a throw of 22.66 metres (74.3 ft), which was better than his outdoor personal best at the time.


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Wikipedia

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