What could've been

Nelson grabs silver in historic Olympia after foul on final throw

Adam Nelson questions a foul on his final throw. Michael Steele/Getty Images
SI.com's Tim Layden There is no more meaningful portal in all of Olympic sport than the stone archway at the west end of the Ancient Stadium in Olympia, Greece. Through this archway -- it was once a tunnel, but only one row of original stones remains -- passed athletes in the ancient Olympics, contested every four years from 746 B.C. to A.D. 394. On Wednesday morning, 175 miles southwest of Athens, on a lush, green butte in the Peloppenesus, a group of modern Olympians was connected to their symbolic heirs. Click here for more.

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) -- Adam Nelson couldn't help himself. While parading with his silver medal around the site where the Olympics were born 28 centuries ago, he paused to look at the mark in the dirt he thought was his gold-medal spot.

Nelson's final throw appeared to be a winner. But a foul was called, giving the shot put gold to Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonog -- who had exactly the same winning toss as Nelson, but triumphed Wednesday because his next-best throw was better.

After the foul was called, Nelson remained helplessly in the shot put ring for three minutes, pointing and pleading with officials, even as Bilonog took the flag-draped victory lap that Nelson thought was his.

"I felt I had a good throw, I didn't feel the foul. I'm sure it would have been far enough," said a somber Nelson, who sobbed on his wife's shoulder and covered his face with an American flag. "If I got the right pockmark out there, I think it would have been far enough. Yeah, I looked at it."

Nelson had led the entire competition, but Bilonog's final throw tied Nelson for the best of the day at 69 feet, 5 1/4�inches (21.16 meters). Nelson had one last chance to win, and the intense American unleashed a huge toss -- but was called for his fifth consecutive foul.

Since Nelson had no other good throws and Bilonog had several, the Ukrainian won the gold. Nelson, a former defensive tackle at Dartmouth, settled for silver for the second straight Olympics. Denmark's Joachim Olsen won the bronze.

Though it was his second Olympic medal, Nelson considered his day a failure -- and well-wishers offered condolences instead of congratulations.

"When you compete at the level that I aspire to compete at, there's nothing but the best you shoot for. The silver medal is a great piece of hardware, but it keeps me around for another four years," he said, a laurel wreath resting uncomfortably on his head.

Replays showed Nelson's foot clearly out of the ring, and he apologized to officials after being told of the obvious foul.

"They said I fouled. I didn't think I did, and they were right," Nelson said.

U.S. men have the top 17 tosses in the world this year, but Nelson's medal saved a wipeout for an American men's trio that had hoped for a sweep.

Two-time Olympic medalist John Godina fouled twice and failed to reach the final rounds. Reese Hoffa couldn't advance past the morning qualifying session. And Chris Cantwell, who has the longest throw in the world this year, didn't make it past the U.S. Olympic trials.

The shot put was held at this former religious sanctuary about 200 miles southwest of Athens, two days before the rest of the track and field competition begins at the Olympic Stadium in the nation's capital.

Earlier Wednesday, Russia's Irina Korzhanenko became the first woman to win a gold medal at the sacred venue: The ancient Olympics were for men only.

Thousand of spectators sat beneath a blazing sun on grassy slopes that surrounded the oval dirt field. Strong winds during the women's final kicked up storms of sand and dust.

Korzhanenko recorded the three longest throws of the day, including the winning toss of 69-1 1/4�(21.06), the best in the world this year. Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba won the silver with a throw of 64-3 1/4�(19.59) on her last attempt, and Nadine Kleinert of Germany took the bronze.

Even the ancients would have appreciated Nelson's performance _ a mixture of drama, intensity, athleticism and even a little unintentional comedy.

Nelson goes through a carefully choreographed routine before each throw. He delicately puts his towel on the ground, then stomps about a dozen steps in front of the throwing ring. He puffs out his cheeks and turns to stare at the start. He wipes his face, paces and prowls, then implores the crowd to start clapping.

Then he does a series of short hops and runs toward the ring, tossing aside his shirt along the way, before he picks up his shot and throws.

On his second attempt, after all that buildup, he dropped the shot -- something he says he hadn't done since he was 12. It traveled all of six inches. On his third attempt, the crowd laughed as Nelson spun out of the ring and landed at a judge's feet.

As Nelson walked out of the stadium, still stunned by the last-throw foul that cost him a gold medal, a spectator ran up to him and yelled: "You are the real winner."

Nelson smiled and silently shook his head.

"I was fired up -- this is the kind of place I love. I like the people, I like the noise," he said. "I felt I had a very good throw in me. I just didn't have the timing today."