Adam Nelson
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Adam McCright Nelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | July 7, 1975||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Shot put | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Carrie Lane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 22.51 m (outdoor) 22.40 m (indoor) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Adam McCright Nelson (born July 7, 1975) is an American shot putter and Olympic gold medalist. Nelson competed in three consecutive Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In addition to his gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, Nelson won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics.
He is married to Laci Nelson and he has 2 daughters, Caroline and Lauren Nelson.
Personal life
Adam Nelson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended
Nelson holds the Dartmouth shot put record with a throw of 65 feet 3 inches (19.89 m). In addition to shot put, Nelson played football at Dartmouth, as a linebacker and later, as a defensive tackle. In 1993 he became the first freshman ever to play football on the Dartmouth squad. Prior to 1993, the Ivy League prohibited first-year students from playing on the varsity football team. Nelson was a member of Dartmouth's 1996 undefeated Ivy League champion team.
At Dartmouth, Adam Nelson served as President of Chi Heorot fraternity.
Prior to his own Olympics experience, Nelson worked at a concession stand during the 1996 Summer Olympics in his hometown of Atlanta.
International career
Adam Nelson earned a
Nelson's personal best in the shot put is 22.51 metres (73 feet 10 inches), which he threw in 2002. At that time, this was the third-longest throw in U.S. history and the ninth-farthest ever in the world.
At the
In Athens, Nelson jumped out in front of the field with his first round throw of 21.16 metres (69 feet 5 inches). He held the lead going into the final round, despite fouling throws in rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5. As the event leader, Nelson was the last to throw in the sixth and final round. The current second-place thrower,
With Nelson and Bilonog precisely tied on distance after six-rounds, the tie-breaker rule came into effect, counting the competitors' second-best throws. Because Nelson had fouled on each throw after the opening round, he had no second mark. Yuriy Bilonog was awarded the gold medal; Nelson was awarded his second consecutive Olympic silver medal. Nelson's shot put Silver was the first track and field medal for the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Nelson's silver medal in the shot put at the 2004 Summer Olympics was upgraded to a gold medal retroactively in 2013 after Yuriy Bilonog's urine sample tested positive for
At the 2005 World Athletics Championships, Nelson won his first major world title with a throw of 21.73 meters (71 feet 4 inches). Two years later, he won a silver medal at the 2007 World Athletics Championships with a throw of 21.61 meters (70 feet 11 inches). At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Nelson failed to throw a valid mark in the final. In the qualifying round, Nelson had a throw of 20.56 meters (67 feet 5 inches). At the 2009 and 2011 World Athletics Championships, Nelson failed to medal in the finals, finishing 5th and 8th place, respectively.
Nelson attempted to make the U.S. Olympic Team for a fourth time at the
2013 elevation to Olympic gold medal
In 2012, retroactive testing on competitors' urine samples retained from the 2004 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee revealed that 2004 Olympic gold medalist
On December 5, 2012, the IOC announced that men's shot put winner Bilonog, and women's shot put third-place finisher, Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia, re-tests showed positive for the steroid agent, Oxandrolone. Bilonog was stripped of his gold medal.[3] The IOC, following established rules, allowed Bilonog (and the others disqualified) 21 days to appeal the ruling. Although no appeal was filed, the IOC waited another five months, to May 30, 2013, before declaring Adam Nelson the 2004 Olympic champion and awarding him the gold medal.
Nelson received his gold medal from a
In 2017, Adam Nelson joined Michael Phelps in speaking before a U.S. Congressional committee examining anti-doping measures in international sporting events.[5]
Spin technique
Nelson throws with his right arm, utilizing the "spin" technique to generate speed and power within the 7-foot-diameter (2.135-meter) throwing ring. While the "spin" is considered a more powerful style (because of its rotational speed), competitors have a greater tendency to foul compared to those who use the more traditional "glide" technique. Although throws are usually launched within the legal sector, spinners are more prone to lose their balance in their follow-through and to step on the front toe board (or, to have a foot come down to the side, on or over the ring's 7-foot circle line.) For example, at the 2004 Olympic Games, Nelson foot-fouled on five of his six rounds of throws, though he did still win the gold medal.
Advertising
During the early 2005 shot put season, Nelson solicited sponsors by wearing T-shirts reading "Space for Rent." This culminated in May when Nelson found a sponsor in the amount of $12,000, slightly more than the donation Nelson had made to the
Post-shot put career
Since retiring from formal athletic competition, Nelson has trained top-level athletes in football, golf, baseball, and track and field. He has worked for NBC Sports as an expert on field events. Nelson remains a strong advocate of clean sport competition and often speaks out against the use of performance-enhancing drugs in athletic competition.
In 2017, Nelson moved to Houston with his wife and two kids, where he works for The D10, an events organization, that like the Olympic movement, has found ways to leverage physical performance to create a massive social impact, raising over $12 million for pediatric cancer research and treatment.
In 2020, he returned to his alma mater to become the athletic director of The Lovett School.[7]
Major competition record
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
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Representing the United States | ||||
1994 | World Junior Championships | Lisbon, Portugal
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1st | 18.34 m |
1999 | Universiade | Palma de Mallorca, Spain
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2nd | 20.64 m |
2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia
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2nd | 21.21 m |
2001 | World Indoor Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 2nd | 20.72 m |
World Championships | Edmonton, Canada
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2nd | 21.24 m | |
Goodwill Games | Brisbane, Australia
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1st | 20.91 m | |
2003 | World Championships | Paris, France
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2nd | 21.26 m |
2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece
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1st | 21.16 m |
2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland
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1st | 21.73 m |
2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan
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2nd | 21.61 m |
2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China
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— | NM |
2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany
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5th | 21.11 m |
2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea
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7th | 20.29 m |
References
- ^ "USA Track & Field - Adam Nelson".
- IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-06-24.
- ^ "Olympic shot put champion among athletes who tested positive at Athens, claims German TV programme - insidethegames.biz - Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games News". Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ^ "International Anti-Doping Efforts". C-SPAN. February 28, 2017.
- ^ "The Going Price for a Shot Putter? $12,000". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Nelson returns home to lead Lovett athletics | Sports | mdjonline.com".
External links
- Adam Nelson at World Athletics
- Adam Nelson at legacy.USATF.org (archived)
- Adam Nelson at Team USA (archive March 18, 2023)
- Adam Nelson at Olympics.com
- Adam Nelson at Olympedia
- Article about the 2000 Olympics on Dartmouth College website at the Wayback Machine (archived September 24, 2004)