Shot put

Yuri Bilonog celebrated the return of the Olympic Games to the idyllic surroundings of Ancient Olympia on Wednesday by winning the men's shot put gold for Ukraine with his sixth and final attempt of the competition.

Competing under a flawless blue sky in the tree-lined grove devoted to Zeus, the European gold medallist equalled American champion Adam Nelson's opening mark of 2.16 to capture his first major title on a countback.

Nelson, who has now been relegated to silver in one Olympic Games and two world championships, must have wondered what he had done to offend the Greek gods. He dropped the shot once and then fell heavily on his back at the start of a sequence of five consecutive fouls.