Abstract: An improved chest protector including additional protection to the sternum area of an athlete's chest. The additional protection is provided by relatively rigid plates bonded to the conventional shock-absorbing chest protector material on the side opposite the wearer's body and directly over the sternum area. The plates distribute the impact from a high speed object over a relatively large area of the shock-absorbing material, thus allowing the chest protector to absorb more of the object's energy than is possible with prior chest protectors.