London 2012 shot put signals weekend packed with track and field
London 2012 shot put: American Christian Cantwell finished fifth in the qualifying rounds for men's shot put Friday. The finals will be Friday at 3:30 p.m.
London 2012 shot put: Christian Cantwell of the US competes in the men's shot put qualification at the London 2012 Olympic Games August 3. Cantwell is in fifth place going into the finals.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Google celebrates the shot put Friday with another Olympic Doodle. The men's finals are Friday at 3:30 p.m., but it's only the start of a weekend jam-packed with track and field events.
The US's Christian Cantwell, from Missouri, will have another chance at an Olympic medal. Cantwell is currently in the same place he was going into the shot put finals at Beijing. He's in fifth after the qualifying rounds, and will have to rally to place in the top three. Cantwell was able to do it in Beijing, walking away with the silver medal.
Coming off of Beijing, Cantwell had an outstanding run in his career. In 2009, he toppled the reigning Olympic champion, Thomasz Majewski of Poland, and won the world outdoor championship. Then, in 2010 Cantwell became the first man to win three world indoor titles in men's shot put. But recently, he has been recovering from surgery on his right throwing arm.
Once again, Cantwell will try to throw further than his rival Majewski, who finished second in qualifying rounds.
There will be plenty of action the rest of the weekend in track and field at the London Games. Friday will also be the finals for the women's 10,0000-meter. Americans Amy Hastings and Lisa Uhl will compete, beginning at 4:25 p.m. Hastings, from Kansas, won the 10,000-meter at the US Olympic Trials.
Saturday there will be more final events, the men's 20-kilometer walk, the men's 400-meter hurdles, the women's discus, the men's long jump, the women's heptathlon, the men's 10,000-meter, and the women's 100-meter.
The weekend will be capped off with the men's 100-meter finals on Sunday, at 4:50 p.m., where the fastest men in the world will go head to head. Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who won the gold and smashed records in Beijing with a time of 9.69, will face his running partner Yohan Blake, who bested him at the Jamaican trials. Americans Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay will also hope to medal.
For the full schedule of events visit nbcolympics.com.