Madrid 2022: Preview Men’s Shot Put World Athletics Indoor Tour Meeting
The top four European shot putters compete in the men’s shot put: Croatian record holder Filip Mihaljevic (21.84m), Pole Konrad Bukowiecki (21.83m), and Italian shot putters Nick Ponzio (21.53m) and Zane Weir (21.53m) (21.50m).
Mihaljevic will compete in Madrid in 2020, where he won with a national record of 21.74. With a national record of 21.84m, the Croatian shot putter won the World Indoor Tour competition in Torun last Thursday, beating Bukowiecki by barely one centimeter. He earned a bronze medal at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland and a bronze medal at the European Indoor Championships in Torun in 2021.
Bukowiecki has broken the 22 metres barrier outdoors with 22.25m and indoors with 22.00m and won two consecutive European Under 23 gold medals in Bydgoszcz 2017 and Gavle 2019, the European Indoor gold medal in Belgrade 2017 and the European outdoor silver medal in Berlin 2018. The Polish shot putter finished second three times in Madrid in 2016, 2019 and 2020.
Nick Ponzio is looking to continue his impressive season highlighted by a third place in Torun with his indoor PB of 21.53m and the Italian indoor title in Ancona last weekend with 21.34m.
Zane Weir from Italy finished fifth with 21.41m in the Olympic final in Tokyo. The Italian shot putter, who grew up in South Africa, improved his outdoor PB to 21.65m in Pietermaritzburg last January and finished fourth in the World Indoor Tour meeting in Torun with 21.50m.
The line-up is completed by Bob Bertemes from Luxemburg, who improved the national outdoor record to 22.22m, Portuguese shot putters Francisco Belo, who placed fourth at the past two editions of the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow 2019 and Torun 2021, and Tsanko Arnaudov, 2016 European bronze medallist and eight-time Spanish champion Carlos Tobalina.
