The men's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.

For the first time in Olympic history, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of an individual event.

[2] Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh repeated their gold, silver, and bronze (respectively) performances from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

They became the 15th, 16th, and 17th men to earn multiple medals in the shot put; Crouser was the 4th to repeat as champion.

But the entire podium returned from Rio and silver medalist Joe Kovacs beat Crouser at the 2019 World Championships.

#11 Darlan Romani, #17 Michał Haratyk, #19 Konrad Bukowiecki, #21 Bob Bertemes and #25 Tomáš Staněk were also in the field.

Crouser joined Ralph Rose (1904 & 1908), Parry O'Brien (1952 & 1956) (also Americans) and Tomasz Majewski of Poland (2008 & 2012), as the only men to defend their Olympic title in the shot put.

For the first time in Olympic history the podium was a repeat of the previous Games, with Kovacs silver and Walsh bronze.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021.