Adam Nelson (born July 7, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia)
is an elite American shotputter. A 1997 graduate of
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, Nelson
has competed in two Olympic Games. In 1996, Nelson
worked at a concession stand during the 1996 Summer
Olympics in his hometown of Atlanta.
Nelson attended The Lovett School in Atlanta,
Georgia and was a letterman and a standout in both
football and track & field. Adam Nelson graduated
from Lovett in 1993.
While he was an undergraduate at Dartmouth, Nelson
won various accolades as a member of the track and
field team. He still holds the Dartmouth shot put
record with a throw of 65 feet 3 inches (19.88 m).
In addition, Nelson played on the American football
team, as a linebacker and later, as a defensive
tackle, becoming the first freshman to play American
football at Dartmouth in 1993. Prior to 1993, the
Ivy League prohibited first-year students from
playing on the varsity American football team. He
was a member of Dartmouth's 1996 undefeated Ivy
League champion team, and faithfully served as
President of Chi Heorot fraternity in 1997.
In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia,
Nelson earned a silver medal after coming in first
place in the 2000 Olympic Trials for shotput. Going
into the Games, Nelson was the favorite to win,
having won every major shotput event in the summer
of 2000. His throw of 21.21 m (69 ft 7 in) was just
three inches (8 cm) short of the winning throw by
gold medalist Arsi Harju.
Nelson's personal best is 22.51 (73 ft 10 in), which
he threw in 2002. At that time, this was the fourth
longest throw in U.S. history and the ninth farthest
ever in the world.
Nelson also earned a silver medal in the shot put
finals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,
Greece. The shot put was held in a spectacular
setting at the original Stadium of Ancient Olympia,
bringing Olympic competition back to the venue for
the first time in over 1,000 years. Nelson jumped
out in front of the field with his first throw of
21.16 m (69 feet 5 inches), and held the lead going
into the sixth and final round. As the leader,
Nelson was scheduled to be the last thrower in the
round and thus, the competition. The holder of the
2nd place throw, Yuriy Bilonog of the Ukraine was
scheduled to throw second to last. If Nelson
remained in first place after Bilonog's final throw,
he would know that he had won his first gold medal
and his last throw would become moot. It was not to
be. Yury Bilonog stepped up and threw 21.16 m (69
feet 5 inches) to tie Nelson for first place with
his sixth throw. To break a tie, the competitors'
second best throws are compared and unfortunately,
Nelson had fouled every throw since his
competition-leading first throw. Nelson entered the
ring for his final throw and unleashed what looked
to be a gold medal winning 70 foot throw, but
unfortunately fouled by stepping on the line to the
left front of the circle. Thus, by virtue of the
tie-breaker and his superior second-best throw,
Yuriy Bilonog won the gold medal and Nelson had to
settle for his second consecutive Olympic silver
medal. He initially protested vociferously to the
officials but later realized that he did in fact
foul, and apologized for his emotional reaction.
Nelson's silver medal was the first track and field
medal for the United States in the 2004 Summer
Olympics. Nelson finally achieved his dreams of a
major world title when he won gold at the 2005 World
Athletics Championships with a throw of 21.73
meters.
