John Godina

John Carl Godina (born May 31, 1972) is a retired American shot putter, whose record includes three World Championship wins and two Olympic medals. He also competed in discus. Godina was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Early life While attending Cheyenne Central High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Godina was a letterman in football and outdoor track and field. He was an All-State honoree, and an All-American in both sports. His high school personal bests in shot put and discus were and , respectively.

College years and Olympic Games At college level, competing for UCLA, he won three outdoor NCAA championship victories, two in discus and one in shot put. His 1995 NCAA Outdoor shot put title was a national record with a throw of . In 1995, he won his first World Championship title in shot put, adding additional titles in 1997, and 2001. In the same discipline, he finished second in the 1996 Olympics and third in the 2000 Olympics. He also qualified to those same Olympics in the Discus, the first American to qualify in both since Bud Houser in 1924 and he finished 8th in the 2004 Olympics in the Shot Put. He retired in 2009 after suffering through injuries at the 2008 Olympic Trials. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

World Throws Center John has a throwing academy in five different locations, two in California (Sacramento and San Ramon). The other three are located in Arizona (Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale).

Godina trains top international athletes like Vikas Gowda, Suzy Powell and Dan Taylor.

Achievements