[2] Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Slovakia, and Slovenia each made their debut in the event.

The United States appeared for the 22nd time, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had thrown 75.50 metres or further during the qualification period.

[3] The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final.

In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 77.50 metres advanced to the final.