# 3068i - 1996 32c Olympic Games: Men's Shot Put

US #3068i
1996 Men’s Shot Put

• Part of Souvenir Sheet of 20
• Sheet commemorates 100^th anniversary of Olympics
• Fourth sheet in Classic Collections series

Category of Stamp:  Commemorative
Set:  Olympic Games
Value:  32¢, First-Class mail rate
First Day of Issue:  May 2, 1996
First Day City:  Washington, DC
Quantity Issued:  324,150,000
Printed by:  J. W. Fergusson and Sons, for Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 20 (5 across, 4 down) from cylinders of 120 (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations:  10.1

Reason the stamp was issued:  The sheet of 20 stamps was issued in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the moder Olympic Games.  The Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia two months later.

About the stamp design:  Artist Richard Waldrep created the paintings used for the stamp images using photographs of athletes performing each sport.  He chose sports that America was likely to do well in and those that were the most watched on TV.
Waldrep had previously designed the set of five stamps for the 1992 Summer Olympics and the four Country and Western Music stamps the following year.

Special design details:  In some of his designs, Waldrep had to alter the faces and uniforms of the athletes he depicted so they wouldn’t resemble the athlete in the original photos he used for reference.

First Day City:  Though the First Day of Issue ceremony was originally supposed to be held in Atlanta, it was changed to Washington, DC, just weeks before the stamp was issued.  This was in response to a disagreement between the US Postal Service and the US Olympic Committee over the sale of T-shirts picturing the stamps.  The Olympic Committee saw the merchandise as a violation of the marketing agreement between the committee and the USPS.

About the Classic Collections Series:  The Atlanta 1996 sheet was the fourth issue in the Classic Collections series.  This series began in 1994 with the Legends of the West issue.  The idea originated from Carl Burcham, manager of stamp and product marketing for USPS at the time.  Each Classic Collections set consists of a pane of 20 different semi-jumbo stamps with descriptive selvage at the top (header) and informational text on the back of each stamp beneath the gum.  The stamps are “broadly defined, Americana-themed subjects.”
The first four Classic Collections sets were accompanied by matching sets of picture postal cards showcasing the stamp designs. 

History the Souvenir Sheet represents:  The 1996 Olympic Games marked an important anniversary – 100 years since the start of the modern Olympic Games. The Ancient Olympic Games were held between 776 BC and 394 AD, when Theodosius I abolished them.
More than 1,500 years later, Pierre de Coubertin arranged for the first modern Olympics to be held in 1896.  He believed that friendly athletic competition could promote world peace.  Those first games consisted of 285 athletes, representing 13 nations, competing in 42 events.  The games were a success and became an international tradition.
One hundred years later, the world excitedly prepared for the 1996 Olympic Games. The games opened on July 19, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Some 11,000 athletes from 197 nations competed in hundreds of events.
The US issued two items for the occasion.  One was a sheet of 20 stamps (#3068), released in May, that depicted modern athletes.  The other was issued on the opening day of the show and honored the games’ centennial.  This stamp (#3086) pictures the “Discus Thrower” – the king of athletes among ancient Greeks – whose purposeful action is captured in Myron’s 5th-century B.C. statue Discobolus.

Men’s Shot Put History:  The shot-put was among the track-and-field sports included in the first modern Olympic games in 1896. In this test of strength and technique, athletes put (hurl with an overhand pushing motion) a spherical weight called a shot made of solid iron or brass. Men put a 16-pound shot, and women put an 8-pound 13-ounce shot.
Athletes put the shot from within a circle seven feet across. An arch-shaped stopboard forms the front of the circle. To successfully put a shot, the force of the entire body must be behind the heave. Most shot-putters use either the glide or spin technique. Each starts with the athlete standing at the back of the circle facing back, with the shot in one hand, balanced against the neck. In the glide, he hops or glides toward the front of the circle while turning his body forward, and placing his leading foot near the stopboard. The arm propels the shot with a long follow through. In the spin, the athlete builds up momentum by spinning one-and-a-half time while moving forward to put.
In ancient Greece, heavy stones were used as shots; the British introduced the use of the cannonball. Improvements in technique have led to frequent world-record performances. As of 2021, Ryan Crouser of the United States holds the record of 76 feet 5 1/4 inches.