Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Al Oerter 1960.jpg
Al Oerter (1960)
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date15 October
Competitors29 from 21 nations
Winning distance61.00 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Al Oerter
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ludvik Danek
 Czechoslovakia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dave Weill
 United States
← 1960
1968 →

The men's discus throw was one of four men's throwing events on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October 1964. 29 athletes from 21 nations entered, with 1 additional athlete not starting in the qualification round.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Al Oerter of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's discus throw. Oerter became the first man to win three medals in the event, all of them gold (through the 2016 Olympics, two other men have won three medals but neither of them won three gold medals). He was only the second person to win three consecutive gold medals in any individual athletics event (after John Flanagan in the hammer from 1904 to 1912). It was the third of his four consecutive wins in the event. Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia took silver to break up the Americans' two-Games dominance of the discus podium; no non-American had won a medal since 1952. Dave Weill earned bronze to make this the fourth straight Games that the United States had won at least two medals in the event.

Background[]

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1960 Games were two-time gold medalist Al Oerter of the United States, fourth-place finisher József Szécsényi of Hungary, fifth-place finisher Edmund Piątkowski and fourteenth-place finisher Zenon Begier of Poland, sixth-place finisher Viktor Kompaniyets, eighth-place finisher Kim Bukhantsov, and fifteenth-place finisher Vladimir Trusenyov of the Soviet Union, ninth-place finisher Pentti Repo of Finland, twelfth-place finisher Lothar Milde of the United Team of Germany, twenty-first-place finisher Warwick Selvey of Australia, and twenty-second-place finisher Cees Koch of the Netherlands. Bukhantsov had also been a finalist in 1956. Oerter was the first man to break 200 feet, with his first world record in 1962. Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia took the world record shortly before the Games, however, breaking 63 and 64 meters (and 210 feet). Oerter lost the U.S. trials to Jay Silvester, and entered the Games hampered by injuries.[2]

Iran, the Ivory Coast, and Puerto Rico each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 15th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

Competition format[]

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 55.00 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[2][3]

Records[]

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Ludvik Danek (TCH) 64.55 Turnov, Czechoslovakia 2 August 1964
Olympic record  Al Oerter (USA) 58.43 Rome, Italy 7 September 1960

Al Oerter led the qualifying round with a new Olympic record of 60.54 metres. Ludvik Danek, throwing later, beat the old record but not Oerter's new record. In the final, Danek (three times), Dave Weill (once), and Jay Silvester (once) all topped the old record but could not beat the new one. Oerter himself managed only one throw past the old record—but it was the best throw of the whole competition, giving Oerter the gold medal and another new Olympic record of 61.00 metres.

Schedule[]

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 15 October 1964 10:00
14:30
Qualifying
Final

Results[]

Qualifying[]

The qualification standard was 55.00 metres. Each thrower had three attempts to reach that standard. Since only 10 throwers made the mark, the next two furthest also advanced to meet the minimum 12 in the final. The table shows the results of the three qualifying rounds.[4]

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Al Oerter  United States 60.54 60.54 Q, OR
2 Ludvik Danek  Czechoslovakia 58.88 58.88 Q
3 Jay Silvester  United States X 57.81 57.81 Q
4 Viktor Kompaniyets  Soviet Union 57.40 57.40 Q
5 Dave Weill  United States 56.95 56.95 Q
6 Hartmut Losch  United Team of Germany 56.46 56.46 Q
7 Zenon Begier  Poland 56.31 56.31 Q
8 Roy Hollingsworth  Great Britain 52.60 55.08 55.96 55.96 Q
9 Edmund Piątkowski  Poland 55.22 55.22 Q
10 József Szécsényi  Hungary 55.04 55.04 Q
11 Kim Bukhantsev  Soviet Union 54.94 X X 54.94 q
12 Vladimir Trusenyov  Soviet Union 53.81 51.94 52.25 53.81 q
13 Fritz Kühl  United Team of Germany 53.53 53.04 X 53.53
14 Lothar Milde  United Team of Germany 53.39 50.83 X 53.39
15 Pentti Repo  Finland 52.93 X 50.60 52.93
16 Dako Radošević  Yugoslavia 51.22 52.71 51.37 52.71
17 Kees Koch  Netherlands 51.20 52.57 51.08 52.57
18 Jiří Žemba  Czechoslovakia X 52.13 51.80 52.13
19 Warwick Selvey  Australia 50.83 X 51.96 51.96
20 Ernst Soudek  Austria X 51.78 50.96 51.78
21 Les Mills  New Zealand 44.18 51.70 51.22 51.70
22 Georgios Tsakanikas  Greece 50.76 51.03 48.07 51.03
23 Shohei Kaneko  Japan 44.63 43.31 46.46 46.46
24 Segui Denis Kragbe  Ivory Coast 44.07 46.43 44.03 46.43
25 Ignacio Reinosa  Puerto Rico 46.36 45.96 X 46.36
26 Gideon Ariel  Israel 45.10 44.26 46.12 46.12
27 Sayed Mirza Molimadail  Iran X 45.24 44.96 45.24
28 Kim Byeong-gi  South Korea 42.73 X X 42.73
Lars Haglund  Sweden X X X No mark
Valko Kostov  Bulgaria DNS

Finals[]

The scores from the qualification round were erased and each thrower was given three throws. The six best in those three received another three throws, keeping all six.

Danek's first throw broke Oerter's record from the qualifier. Weill topped that with his second throw, then Danek took the record back in the fourth throw. Oerter's fifth throw, a full 61 metres to regain the record, silenced the others and won him his third straight gold medal.

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Al Oerter  United States 57.65 58.34 55.11 54.37 61.00 OR X 61.00 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ludvik Danek  Czechoslovakia 59.73 58.83 X 60.52 58.38 57.17 60.52
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dave Weill  United States X 59.49 56.15 56.15 55.94 52.45 59.49
4 Jay Silvester  United States 56.99 X 57.54 57.46 59.09 X 59.09
5 József Szécsényi  Hungary 54.34 52.14 56.97 57.23 X 54.66 57.23
6 Zenon Begier  Poland 57.06 52.45 55.83 X X 56.68 57.06
7 Edmund Piatkowski  Poland 52.94 55.81 53.87 Did not advance 55.81
8 Vladimir Trusenev  Soviet Union 53.70 54.78 52.98 Did not advance 54.78
9 Kim Bukhantsev  Soviet Union X 50.15 54.38 Did not advance 54.38
10 Roy Anselm Hollingsworth  Great Britain 53.74 53.87 X Did not advance 53.87
11 Hartmut Losch  United Team of Germany 51.44 52.08 X Did not advance 52.08
12 Viktor Kompaniyets  Soviet Union X 51.96 X Did not advance 51.96

References[]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 53.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw Qualifying Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
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