The first world record in the women's shot put was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1924. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936. These women's distances were achieved with a shot put.
As of June 21, 2009, the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) have ratified 50 world records in the event. , the official world record, set by Natalya Lisovskaya on 7 June 1987, stands at 22.63 m.
14 of the top 15 throwers of all time have set their personal best between 1976 and 1990. Since then, athletes have been subject to more rigorous drug testing, and marks like these are effectively unreachable today. The best throws by any women since Lisovskaya's record have been Larisa Peleshenko's 21.46 m, set in 2000, followed by Valerie Adams's 21.24 m from 2011.
Only Fibingerova's 22.50 m in 1987 was ratified by the IAAF.