Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's shot put

Women's shot put at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	12 August 2016
Competitors	36 from 25 nations
Winning distance	20.63 m
Medalists
01 ! Michelle Carter  United States 02 ! Valerie Adams  New Zealand 03 ! Anita Marton  Hungary
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01 !		Michelle Carter	United States
02 !		Valerie Adams	New Zealand
03 !		Anita Marton	Hungary

The women's shot put competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 12 August. Each athlete receives three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieve the qualifying distance progress to the final. If less than twelve athletes achieve this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reach the final. Each finalist is allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Valerie Adams entered as the defending Olympic champion from 2012 (initial champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk remained banned for doping). Adams had regained form, ranking second in the world with 20.19 m, after two injury affected seasons. Christina Schwanitz had won the 2015 World Championships in her absence and had taken gold at the European Championships the previous month with a throw of 20.17 m. Gong Lijiao (the 2015 world runner-up) led the rankings at 20.43 m. Michelle Carter, who had won World Indoor and American titles that year, was the only other woman to have thrown beyond twenty metres that year.

In the qualifying round, Adams was best with her only throw of 19.74 m, while Schwanitz and Carter also went beyond nineteen metres, though Carter took two attempts to get the automatic qualifier. Gong, Anita Márton, and Raven Saunders were the other automatic qualifiers. American Felisha Johnson, who was eighth on the season's lists, was the most prominent athlete who failed to progress to the final.