Men's Shot Put Results

LONDON – Amin Nikfar finished 33rd for Iran in the preliminary round of the shot put Friday morning at the London Olympics. It was his second consecutive Olympic Games.

He had a best throw of 18.62 meters on his first throw but did not record a mark on either of his second or third attempts. Reese Hoffa of the United States had the top qualifying mark at 21.36.

"Not the result I was after but I finished a few spots higher than I went in," said Nikfar on his Facebook page following the competition. "Thank you, thank you, thank you all for all the love over the last couple weeks! It is absolutely spectacular to have friends like you all at my side.
There are no words to describe the love and appreciation I have for the kind and motivational words I've received from my friends lately."

Nikfar, who competed at California from 2000-04, trained at Northern Arizona University under the direction of then throws coach Mo Saatara in preparation for Beijing. While in Flagstaff, he earned his master's degree in education and served as a volunteer coach for the Lumberjacks' track and field program.

Nikfar is a native of Santa Clara, Calif., and a product of Wilcox High School.

He one of four athletes with NAU connections including three alumni and one current student-athlete. Current NAU student athlete Diego Estrada will represent Mexico in the 10,000m on Saturday. Lopez Lomong, '11 BS, will represent the USA in the 5000m on August 8. David McNeill, '10 BS, will represent Australia in the same race. The Lumberjacks have been represented in every summer Olympics dating back to 1984.