Medal count by country in the Women's Shot Put at the Summer Olympics 1948-2020

The Women's Shot Put was introduced as an event in the Summer Olympics in 1948. Since then, athletes from the Soviet Union had the most success in the event, winning seven golds and 13 total medals between 1952 and 1992**. German athletes have also had a lot of success in this event, winning four golds and 15 overall medals for Germany, East Germany and West Germany. The event's most successful athlete is New Zealand's Valerie Adams, who won two golds, one silver, and one bronze between 2008 and 2020.

This event has had more medals stripped from athletes than any other event in Olympic history (including the Winter Olympics), with six stripped medals in total; two of each respective color. Three of these medals were stripped from Belarusian athletes, while the other three were stripped from Russian athletes. All of these stripped medals were in relation to offenses committed between 2004 and 2012, with the 2012 gold and 2008 bronze medals both taken from the same athlete; Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus. All of the stripped medals have been redistributed accordingly, apart from the 2004 bronze medal, which was left vacant as it would have been given to Ostapchuk.