George Woods

Who is George Woods?

George Woods was an Olympic track and field athlete.

As a senior at Sikeston High School, Woods became the first Missouri high school athlete to top 60 ft in the shot put event, setting a Sikeston school record that still stands to this day. He would go on to attend Southern Illinois University.

In a competitive career that spanned 3 Olympiads, Woods knew what it was to almost reach the top of the mountain. After winning the US Olympic track and field team trails in the shot put in 1968, he was overtaken by fellow American shot putter Randy Matson in the Mexico City games, settling for the silver medal behind Matson’s Olympic record performance.

Four years later at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he again entered the games as the American Olympic trails champion and the favorite for Olympic gold. He came close, but was again denied Olympic gold. Wladyslaw Komar, a virtual unknown from Poland, hurled a huge PR and Olympic record of 21.18 m on his first throw of the competition. Woods responded, steadily and methodically, reaching 21.17 m in the 4th round.