Discus throw at the Olympics
Discus throw at the Olympic Games | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Sport | Athletics |
Gender | Men and women |
Years held | Men: 1896 – 2020 Women: 1928 – 2020 |
Olympic record | |
Men | 69.89 m Virgilijus Alekna (2004) |
Women | 72.30 m Martina Hellmann (1988) |
Reigning champion | |
Men | Daniel Ståhl (SWE) |
Women | Valarie Allman (USA) |
The discus throw is one of four track and field throwing events held at the Summer Olympics. The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896 (one of two throws events at the first Olympics, alongside the shot put). The women's event was first contested at the 1928 Olympics, being one of the five athletics events in the inaugural Olympic women's programme.
The Olympic records are 69.89 m (229 ft 3+1⁄2 in) for men, set by Virgilijus Alekna in 2004, and 72.30 m (237 ft 2+1⁄4 in) for women, set by Martina Hellmann in 1988.
Two variations on the event have been contested at the Olympics: a two-handed competition at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, with athletes using both left and right arm putting techniques, and a stone throw at the 1906 Intercalated Games.
Medalists (shows down below)[]
Men[]
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1896 Athens |
Robert Garrett United States |
Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos Greece |
Sotirios Versis Greece |
1900 Paris |
Rudolf Bauer Hungary |
František Janda-Suk Bohemia |
Richard Sheldon United States |
1904 St. Louis |
Martin Sheridan United States |
Ralph Rose United States |
Nikolaos Georgantas Greece |
1908 London |
Martin Sheridan United States |
Merritt Giffin United States |
Bill Horr United States |
1912 Stockholm |
Armas Taipale Finland |
Richard Byrd United States |
James Duncan United States |
1920 Antwerp |
Elmer Niklander Finland |
Armas Taipale Finland |
Gus Pope United States |
1924 Paris |
Bud Houser United States |
Vilho Niittymaa Finland |
Thomas Lieb United States |
1928 Amsterdam |
Bud Houser United States |
Antero Kivi Finland |
James Corson United States |
1932 Los Angeles |
John Anderson United States |
Henri LaBorde United States |
Paul Winter France |
1936 Berlin |
Ken Carpenter United States |
Gordon Dunn United States |
Giorgio Oberweger Italy |
1948 London |
Adolfo Consolini Italy |
Giuseppe Tosi Italy |
Fortune Gordien United States |
1952 Helsinki |
Sim Iness United States |
Adolfo Consolini Italy |
James Dillion United States |
1956 Melbourne |
Al Oerter United States |
Fortune Gordien United States |
Des Koch United States |
1960 Rome |
Al Oerter United States |
Rink Babka United States |
Dick Cochran United States |
1964 Tokyo |
Al Oerter United States |
Ludvík Daněk Czechoslovakia |
Dave Weill United States |
1968 Mexico City |
Al Oerter United States |
Lothar Milde East Germany |
Ludvík Daněk Czechoslovakia |
1972 Munich |
Ludvík Daněk Czechoslovakia |
Jay Silvester United States |
Ricky Bruch Sweden |
1976 Montreal |
Mac Wilkins United States |
Wolfgang Schmidt East Germany |
John Powell United States |
1980 Moscow |
Viktor Rashchupkin Soviet Union |
Imrich Bugár Czechoslovakia |
Luis Delís Cuba |
1984 Los Angeles |
Rolf Danneberg West Germany |
Mac Wilkins United States |
John Powell United States |
1988 Seoul |
Jürgen Schult East Germany |
Romas Ubartas Soviet Union |
Rolf Danneberg West Germany |
1992 Barcelona |
Romas Ubartas Lithuania |
Jürgen Schult Germany |
Roberto Moya Cuba |
1996 Atlanta |
Lars Riedel Germany |
Vladimir Dubrovshchik Belarus |
Vasiliy Kaptyukh Belarus |
2000 Sydney |
Virgilijus Alekna Lithuania |
Lars Riedel Germany |
Frantz Kruger South Africa |
2004 Athens |
Virgilijus Alekna Lithuania |
Zoltán Kővágó Hungary |
Aleksander Tammert Estonia |
2008 Beijing |
Gerd Kanter Estonia |
Piotr Małachowski Poland |
Virgilijus Alekna Lithuania |
2012 London |
Robert Harting Germany |
Ehsan Haddadi Iran |
Gerd Kanter Estonia |
2016 Rio de Janeiro |
Christoph Harting Germany |
Piotr Małachowski Poland |
Daniel Jasinski Germany |
2020 Tokyo |
Daniel Ståhl Sweden |
Simon Pettersson Sweden |
Lukas Weißhaidinger Austria |
Multiple medalists[]
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Oerter | United States (USA) | 1956–1968 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
2 | Virgilijus Alekna | Lithuania (LTU) | 2000–2012 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
3 | Martin Sheridan | United States (USA) | 1904–1908 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Bud Houser | United States (USA) | 1924–1928 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
5 | Ludvík Daněk | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1964–1972 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Armas Taipale | Finland (FIN) | 1912–1920 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Adolfo Consolini | Italy (ITA) | 1948–1952 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Mac Wilkins | United States (USA) | 1976–1984 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Jürgen Schult | East Germany (GDR) Germany (GER) |
1988–1992 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Romas Ubartas | Soviet Union (URS) Lithuania (LTU) |
1988–1992 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Lars Riedel | Germany (GER) | 1996–2000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
12 | Rolf Danneberg | West Germany (FRG) | 1984–1988 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Gerd Kanter | Estonia (EST) | 2008–2012 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
14 | Piotr Małachowski | Poland (POL) | 2008–2016 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
15 | Fortune Gordien | United States (USA) | 1948–1956 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
16 | John Powell | United States (USA) | 1976–1984 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Medalists by country[]
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States (USA) | 13 | 9 | 13 | 35 |
2 | Germany (GER) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
3 | Lithuania (LTU) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
4 | Finland (FIN) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
5 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Italy (ITA) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
7 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
8 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
10 | Estonia (EST) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
11 | West Germany (FRG) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
12 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
13 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
14 | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
15 | Bohemia (BOH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Iran (IRI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
17 | Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
18 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
South Africa (RSA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Women[]
Multiple medalists[]
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nina Romashkova | Soviet Union (URS) | 1952–1960 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
2 | Evelin Jahl | East Germany (GDR) | 1976–1980 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Sandra Perković | Croatia (CRO) | 2012–2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
4 | Lillian Copeland | United States (USA) | 1928–1932 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Tamara Press | Soviet Union (URS) | 1960–1964 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Natalya Sadova | Russia (RUS) | 1996–2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
7 | Lia Manoliu | Romania (ROU) | 1960–1968 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
8 | Ellina Zvereva | Belarus (BLR) | 1996–2000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
9 | Mariya Petkova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1976–1980 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Anastasia Kelesidou | Greece (GRE) | 2000–2004 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
11 | Jadwiga Wajs | Poland (POL) | 1932–1936 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Tsvetanka Khristova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1988–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Yarelys Barrios | Cuba (CUB) | 2008–2012 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Medalists by country[]
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
2 | United States (USA) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
3 | East Germany (GDR) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
4 | Germany (GER)[nb] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
5 | Croatia (CRO) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
6 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
7 | Cuba (CUB) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
8 | France (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Poland (POL) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
10 | Russia (RUS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
11 | Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
12 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
14 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
15 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
16 | China (CHN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
19 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
- nb The German total includes teams both competing as Germany and the United Team of Germany, but not East or West Germany.
Intercalated Games[]
The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.[2]
Martin Sheridan, the Olympic champion in 1904 and 1908, won the 1906 title as well. A 1904 medallist, Nikolaos Georgantas, was runner-up, while Verner Järvinen took the bronze medal in addition to the Greek-style event gold medal he won at the 1906 Games.[3]
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1906 Athens |
Martin Sheridan (USA) | Nikolaos Georgantas (GRE) | Verner Järvinen (FIN) |
Greek-style discus throw[]
At both the 1906 Intercalated Games and the 1908 London Olympics, a Greek-style discus throwing competition was held. This variant had athletes stood on a raised pedestal and throwing the implement in a prescribed technique, which was suggested to emulate the throwing technique of the Ancient Olympic Games.[4] Academics studying ancient Greek artefacts stated that the style was a misinterpretation of a text.[5] Verner Järvinen was the 1906 champion after winning the bronze medal with the standard-style. Martin Sheridan won both Greek-style and regular-style gold medals in 1908.[6]
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1906 Athens |
Verner Järvinen (FIN) | Nikolaos Georgantas (GRE) | István Mudin (HUN) |
1908 London |
Martin Sheridan (USA) | Bill Horr (USA) | Verner Järvinen (FIN) |
Two-handed discus throw[]
At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics a two-handed variant of the standard discus throw competition took place. Each athlete had three attempts using each hand and their score was calculated by adding their best performances for the left and right hands. It featured two rounds, with the top three after the first round receiving a further three attempts with each arm.[7]
All three of the medallists took part in the main Olympic men's discus event and Finland's Armas Taipale emerged as a double gold medallist.[8] Silver medallist Elmer Niklander also won a medal in the two-handed shot put.[9] Third place Emil Magnusson won the only Olympic medal of his career in the event.[10]
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1912 Stockholm |
Armas Taipale (FIN) | Elmer Niklander (FIN) | Emil Magnusson (SWE) |
Non-canonical Olympic events[]
In addition to the main 1900 Olympic men's discus throw, a handicap competition was held four days later. Gustaf Söderström, who had placed sixth in the main event, took first place with a throw of 40.50 m, having had a handicap of 5.5 m. Gyula Strausz, 13th in the main discus, was runner-up with 39.49 m off a 6.3 m handicap. Karl Gustaf Staaf, a gold medalist in the tug of war, was third with 38.80 m (8 m handicap)[11][12]
The handicap event returned at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Martin Sheridan and Ralph Rose repeated their 1–2 placings from the Olympic men's discus and John Biller, fifth in the main event, took third place.[12]
These events are no longer considered part of the official Olympic history of the discus throw or the athletics programme in general. Consequently, medals from these competitions have not been assigned to nations on the all-time medal tables.[12]
References[]
- Participation and athlete data
- Athletics Men's Discus Throw Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-04-18.
- Athletics Women's Discus Throw Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-04-18.
- Olympic record progressions
- Mallon, Bill (2012). TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
- Specific
- ^ Day 2 of IOC Executive Board meeting in St. Petersburg . Olympic (2013-05-30). Retrieved on 2014-04-19.
- ^ 1906 Athina Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 26 January 2014.
- ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 19 April 2014.
- ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Greek Style. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Greek Style. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Martin Sheridan. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Both Hands Qualifying Round. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Armas Taipale. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Elmer Niklander. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Emil Magnusson. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
- ^ Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Handicap. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 22 March 2014.
- ^ a b c Handicap Olympic Athletics Events. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.
External links[]
- IAAF discus throw homepage
- Official Olympics website
- Olympic athletics records from Track & Field News
kji
- Discus throw at the Olympics
- Discus throw
- Athletics events at the Olympics