THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 8 : FINAL PUT DOWN : East Germany’s Timmermann Takes Gold From Barnes on Last Throw

Randy Barnes of Charleston, W.Va., had the Olympic shotput gold medal in his grasp for about 5 minutes Friday night. But East Germany’s Ulf Timmermann, the world record-holder, proved that his will is as strong as his body, winning on his final throw.

Even at the height of the day’s competition, the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium was less than half full, and virtually all of the spectators had left by the time the shotput competition began. They missed the most dramatic event of the day.

Three throwers combined to set six Olympic records, including four by Timmermann, 25, an economics student from Berlin. After taking the lead on the first of his six throws, he extended it twice in his next four attempts to lead at 73 feet 1 3/4 inches at the start of the final round.

But then Barnes, who was in fourth place most of the day, finally overcame his timidity and threw 73-5 on his final throw.

Two throwers later, Timmermann, suddenly faced with the prospect of going home a silver-medalist, uncorked his best effort of the day, 73-8 1/2.

Switzerland’s Werner Gunthor, the 1987 world champion who has been bothered this year by a back injury, finished third with a first-throw of 72-1 3/4, which at the time was an Olympic record.

“I felt like I was sleepwalking until the last moment,” said Barnes, 22, who dropped out of Texas A&M; this year to concentrate on training for the Olympics. He emerged as the United States’ best shotputter this year after a knee injury ended the season of John Brenner, the former UCLA thrower who had finished third in the 1987 World Championships.

“I might have been a little bit in awe of the whole situation,” Barnes said. “I was afraid of fouling and got too conservative. It took a little reckless abandon at the end.

“I knew if I screwed up that last throw, it was over for me. I didn’t expect to throw that far. When I did, I thought I had the gold medal. I’m impressed with Ulf. It takes a tremendous competitor to come back like he did.”