Nelson Steps Out of Retirement at 40 for Final Olympic Shot

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Much to his amazement, Adam Nelson can still heave the shot put nearly as far as ever at 40 years old.

That's why, after being retired for 3 1/2 years, the Olympic gold medalist recently returned to his old way of life. He even dusted off his trademark big-throw routine — a scream followed by ripping off his warmup shirt as he storms into the throwing ring. His theatrics will be on display Friday when he tries to make the U.S. squad for the Rio de Janeiro Games at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Nelson captured a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics before being bumped to gold in May 2013 when Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonoh was stripped of the title following a doping violation.

Nelson had retired in 2013 and lives in Georgia. He was able to stay in top shape and is even lighter than he was when he last competed. He does note that the sport does not appear to have cleaned up from rampant doping issues. The longtime anti-doping crusader says he welcomes testing -- anything to weed out the dopers.