Hunter (reigning world champion and 1996 Olympic seventh-place finisher), who was disqualified before competing.

[1] Croatia, Cuba, Moldova, and Slovakia each made their debut in the men's shot put.

Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had thrown 19.70 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 20.10 metres advanced to the final.