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The women’s shot put belongs to the earliest layer of organised women’s field-event record history, with documented marks appearing well before an international federation framework existed. As in several early women’s throwing events, the pre-federation record trail is shaped by domestic championships, exhibition competitions and “both hands” formats that now sit outside the modern discipline. That makes the earliest progression more complex than a simple list of official world records: it reflects a transitional period in which women’s throwing was still establishing standard implements, competition formats and international recognition.

France played a central role in that formative phase. Violette Gouraud was the dominant early figure, driving the pre-FSFI standard upward through a series of performances between 1919 and 1925 and carrying the event into the first years of official women’s federation recognition. Her marks stand at the junction between the experimental and the institutional eras, linking the scattered pre-federation record culture with the more formal FSFI progression that followed in the 1920s.

The event then developed into one of the major power disciplines of women’s athletics, with the progression later shaped by strong Central and Eastern European traditions and, in the modern era, by repeated technical and performance leaps at global championships. But its historical foundation lies in that early, uneven pre-federation period, when women’s shot putting was still defining the competitive framework from which the official world-record event would emerge.

Shot Put, women World Record Progression – Data Table

Performance	Athlete	Country	Date	Location	Competition	Notes
22.60	Natalya LIsovskaya	URS	7/6/1987	Moskva	Znamenskiy Memorial
22.63	Natalya LIsovskaya	URS	7/6/1987	Moskva	Znamenskiy Memorial
22.53	Natalya LIsovskaya	URS	27/5/1984	Sochi	National Meeting
22.45	Ilona Slupianek	GDR	10/5/1980	Potsdam	Olympic Test
22.36	Ilona Slupianek	GDR	2/5/1980	Celje	Ferdo Skok Memorial
22.32	Helena Fibingerová	TCH	20/8/1977	Nitra	International Meeting
21.99	Helena Fibingerová	TCH	26/9/1976	Opava	National Meeting
21.89	Ivanka Khristova	BUL	4/7/1976	Belmeken	National Meeting
21.67	Marianne Adam	GDR	30/5/1976	Karl-Marx-Stadt	National Meeting
21.60	Marianne Adam	GDR	6/8/1975	Berlin (Ost)	GDR Club Cup
21.57	Helena Fibingerová	TCH	21/9/1974	Gottwaldov	National Meeting
21.45	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	29/9/1973	Varna	International Meeting
21.20	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	28/8/1973	Lvov	National Meeting
21.03	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	7/9/1972	München	The XX Olympic Games
20.63	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	19/5/1972	Sochi	National Meeting
20.43	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	29/8/1971	Moskva	International Match URS-POL-GDR
20.10	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	16/9/1969	Piraeus	European Championships
20.43	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	16/9/1969	Piraeus	European Championships
20.10	Margitta Gummel	GDR	11/9/1969	Berlin (Ost)	European Championships
20.09	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	13/7/1969	Chorzow	POL-URS-GDR International Match
19.72	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	30/5/1969	Moskva	Area Federation Match Leningrad - RSFSR - Ukraine - Moskva
19.07	Margitta Gummel	GDR	20/10/1968	Ciudad de México	The XIX Olympic Games
19.61	Margitta Gummel	GDR	20/10/1968	Ciudad de México	The XIX Olympic Games
18.87	Margitta Gummel	GDR	22/9/1968	Frankfurt/Oder	Olympic Test
18.67	Nadezhda Chizhova	URS	28/4/1968	Sochi	National Spring Meeting
18.59	Tamara Press	URS	19/9/1965	Kassel	European Cup, Final
18.55	Tamara Press	URS	12/9/1962	Beograd	European Athletics Championships
18.55	Tamara Press	URS	10/6/1962	Leipzig	International Meeting
17.78	Tamara Press	URS	13/8/1960	Moskva	Olympic Test
17.42	Tamara Press	URS	16/7/1960	Moskva	Soviet Championships
17.25	Tamara Press	URS	26/4/1959	Nalchik	National Meeting
16.76	Galina Zybina	URS	13/10/1956	Tashkent	Olympic Test
16.67	Galina Zybina	URS	15/11/1955	Tbilisi	Soviet Championships
16.29	Galina Zybina	URS	5/9/1955	Leningrad	National Meeting
16.28	Galina Zybina	URS	14/9/1954	Kiev	Soviet Championships
16.20	Galina Zybina	URS	9/10/1953	Malmö‎‎	International Meeting
15.42	Galina Zybina	URS	1/10/1952	Frunze	National Meeting
15.37	Galina Zybina	URS	20/9/1952	Frunze	National Meeting
15.28	Galina Zybina	URS	26/7/1952	Helsinki	The XV Olympic Games
15.02	Anna Andreyeva	URS	9/11/1950	Ploieşti	ROM-URS International Match
14.86	Klavdiya Tochyonova	URS	30/10/1949	Tbilisi	Meeting
14.59	Tatyana Sevryukova	URS	4/8/1948	Moskva	Meeting
14.38	Gisela Mauermayer	GER	15/7/1934	Warszawa	POL-GER Int.Match	First record ratified by the IAAF
13.70	Grete Heublein	GER	16/8/1931	Bielefeld	Area Meeting, Northern-Western Germany
12.88	Grete Heublein	GER	28/6/1931	Paris	FRA-Western Germany Int. Match
12.85	Grete Heublein	GER	21/7/1929	Frankfurt	German Championships
11.96	Grete Heublein	GER	15/7/1928	Berlin	German Championships
11.52	Ruth Lange	GER	3/6/1928	Berlin	Pre-Olympic Meeting
11.32	Ruth Lange	GER	6/8/1927	Breslau	German Championships
10.84	Ruth Lange	GER	28/5/1927	Praha	International Meeting
10.15	Violette Gaouraud - Morris	FRA	14/7/1924	Paris	French Championships	Best hand (right) in "both hands" competition

See also: [Women’s Discus Throw WR Progression][Men’s Shot Put WR Progression]