The men's
discus throw field event at the
1972 Olympic Games took place on September 1 and 2.
Twenty-nine athletes from 18 nations competed.
[ The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. After the retirement of four-time Olympic champion Al Oerter, this was an event that was open to everyone. The favorite was two-time Olympic medalist and 1971 European Champion ]Ludvík Daněk
Ludvík Daněk () (6 January 1937 – 16 November 1998) was a Czechoslovak discus thrower, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games with a throw of 64.40 m (211'3").
Daněk was born in Blansko, and competed in four Summer Olympics ...
. Daněk won, completing a full set of three different medals in the event; it was Czechoslovakia's first gold medal in the men's discus throw. Daněk was the second man (after Oerter) to win three medals in the event. Jay Silvester
L. Jay Silvester (born August 27, 1937) and participated in college athletics at Utah State University from 1956 to 1959 is an American retired athlete who mainly competed in the discus throw. In this event he finished in fourth, fifth, second ...
of the United States took silver, keeping alive the American streak of medaling in every appearance of the event (though the nation's five-Games gold medal streak ended). Ricky Bruch
Björn Rickard "Ricky" Bruch (; 2 July 1946 – 30 May 2011) was a Swedish discus thrower, poet and actor.
Career
Bruch was born in Örgryte, Gothenburg, grew up in Skåne, and was later a long-time resident of Malmö. His main discipline was th ...
earned Sweden's first medal in the men's discus throw with his bronze.
Background
This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1968 Games were bronze medalist (and 1964 silver medalist) Ludvík Daněk
Ludvík Daněk () (6 January 1937 – 16 November 1998) was a Czechoslovak discus thrower, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games with a throw of 64.40 m (211'3").
Daněk was born in Blansko, and competed in four Summer Olympics ...
of Czechoslovakia, fourth-place finisher (and 1964 finalist) Hartmut Losch
Hartmut Losch (11 September 1943 in Angermünde – 26 March 1997 in Neu Fahrland) was a German athlete who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics, in the 1968 Summer Olympics, and in the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), offi ...
of East Germany, fifth-place finisher (and 1964 finalist) Jay Silvester
L. Jay Silvester (born August 27, 1937) and participated in college athletics at Utah State University from 1956 to 1959 is an American retired athlete who mainly competed in the discus throw. In this event he finished in fourth, fifth, second ...
of the United States, eighth-place finisher Ricky Bruch
Björn Rickard "Ricky" Bruch (; 2 July 1946 – 30 May 2011) was a Swedish discus thrower, poet and actor.
Career
Bruch was born in Örgryte, Gothenburg, grew up in Skåne, and was later a long-time resident of Malmö. His main discipline was th ...
of Sweden, ninth-place finisher Hein-Direck Neu
Hein-Direck Neu (13 February 1944 in Bad Kreuznach died 14 April 2017 in Wiesbaden) was a German discus thrower who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and in the 1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* Jan ...
of West Germany, eleventh-place finisher Ferenc Tégla of Hungary, and twelfth-place finisher Robin Tait
Robin Douglas Tait (14 April 1940 in Dunedin, Otago – 20 March 1984 in Auckland) was a discus thrower representing New Zealand at two Summer Olympics: 1968 and 1972.
He represented New Zealand at six Commonwealth Games: 1962, 1966, 1970, 197 ...
of New Zealand. Daněk was favored, though Silvester and Bruch (who shared the world record) were also serious contenders.
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 59.00 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 eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[Official Report, vol. 3, p. 62.]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
For the first time since 1920, no new Olympic record was set in the event.
Schedule
All times are Central European Time
Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00.
It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries.
CET i ...
(UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
** B ...
)
Results
All throwers reaching and the top 12 including ties advanced to the finals. All qualifiers are shown in blue. All distances are listed in metres.
Qualifying
Final
References
External links
Official report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics - Men's discus throw
Men's discus throw
Discus throw at the Olympics
Men's events at the 1972 Summer Olympics