The ol' fella led the way.

All three U.S. entrants qualified for the men's shot put final Friday, with 34-year-old Reese Hoffa of Augusta, Ga., topping everyone with a best heave of 70 feet, 1 inch (21.36 meters).

Hoffa owns four world championships medals but is seeking his first piece of hardware at an Olympics; he was seventh at Beijing in 2008, for example.

Next-best Friday morning was world champion David Storl of Germany at 69-4¾ (21.15), followed by reigning Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland at 69-0 (21.03).

Also qualifying for Friday night's final: Ryan Whiting of Harrisburg, Pa., and Christian Cantwell, of Eldon, Mo.

— Howard Fendrich — Twitter http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.