Amin Nikfar, 20, who was born in San Jose, California, set the Iranian record of 20.05 meters last Thursday in the Toronto International Track & Field Games.
He came in second in the Toronto Games behind Canada’s Dylan Armstrong, who put the shot 21.23 meters. Third place went to American Justin Rodhe with a throw of 19.52 meters.
All three men qualified for the 2012 London Olympics by finishing in the top three spots at the Toronto event.
Nikfar lives and trains in the United States, but signed up for the Iranian team to try to improve his chances of making the Olympics.
The previous Iranian record in the shotput, 19.97 meters, was also set by Nikfar.
Nikfar also qualified for 2008 Olympic games.
