The

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

is one of four

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

throwing events held at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

(one of two throws events at the first Olympics, alongside the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

). 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 Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

are for men, set by

Virgilijus Alekna Virgilijus Alekna (; 13 February 1972) is a Lithuanian former discus thrower and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds. After retiring from athletics, Alekna was elected to the national parliament, t ...

in 2004, and for women, set by

Martina Hellmann Martina Helga Hellmann ( Opitz; born 12 December 1960) is a retired German track and field athlete who represented East Germany. She was the Olympic champion in the discus throw at the 1988 Summer Olympics. She also won the World Championshi ...

in 1988. Two variations on the event have been contested at the Olympics: a two-handed competition at the

1912 Stockholm Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, bet ...

, with athletes using both left and right arm putting techniques, and a stone throw at the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

Medalists (shows down below)

Men

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

Women

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

* The German total includes teams both competing as

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

, but not East or West Germany.

Intercalated Games

The

were held in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and at the time were officially recognised as part of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

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 The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(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.

Martin Sheridan Martin John Sheridan (March 28, 1881 – March 27, 1918) was a three time Olympic Games gold medallist. He was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, and died in St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York, the day before his 37th birthday ...

, the Olympic champion in 1904 and 1908, won the 1906 title as well. A 1904 medallist,

Nikolaos Georgantas Nikolaos Georgantas ( el, Νικόλαος Γεωργαντάς, February 27, 1880 ( OS)/March 12, 1880 ( NS) – November 23, 1958) was a Greek athlete who competed mainly in the discus throw. Biography He was born in Steno, Arcadia. He comp ...

, was runner-up, while

Verner Järvinen Venne "Verner" Järvinen (3 April 1870 – 31 January 1941) was a Finnish track and field athlete, who competed mostly in throwing events. He won the gold medal in the Greek-style discus in the 1906 Intercalated Games, and the bronze in the 1908 ...

took the bronze medal in addition to the Greek-style event gold medal he won at the 1906 Games.

Greek-style discus throw

At both the

and the

1908 London Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

, 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 The ancient Olympic Games (Ὀλυμπιακοὶ ἀγῶνες; la, Olympia, neuter plural: "the Olympics") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. ...

.Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Greek Style
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014. Academics studying ancient Greek artefacts stated that the style was a misinterpretation of a text.
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 18 April 2014.

was the 1906 champion after winning the bronze medal with the standard-style.

won both Greek-style and regular-style gold medals in 1908.

Two-handed discus throw

At the

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. All three of the medallists took part in the main Olympic men's discus event and Finland's

Armas Taipale Armas Rudolf Taipale (27 July 1890 – 9 November 1976) was a Finnish athlete. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics and won gold medals in two discus throw events, conventional and two-handed, where the total was counted as a sum of best thr ...

emerged as a double gold medallist. Silver medallist

Elmer Niklander Elmer Konstantin Niklander (19 January 1890 – 12 November 1942) was a Finnish athlete who competed in throwing events, winning the gold medal in the 1920 discus throw and three other Olympic medals and 44 Finnish championships. Athletics N ...

also won a medal in the two-handed shot put. Third place

Emil Magnusson Emil Magnusson (23 November 1887 – 26 July 1933) was a Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in S ...

won the only Olympic medal of his career in the event.

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 Gyula László János Strausz (26 February 1880 – 18 March 1949 in Budapest) was a Hungarian track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today ...

, 13th in the main discus, was runner-up with 39.49 m off a 6.3 m handicap.

Karl Gustaf Staaf Karl Gustaf Vilhelm Staaf (April 6, 1881 – February 15, 1953) was a Swedish track and field athlete and tug of war competitor who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was born in Stockholm and died in Motala. He finished seventh in the ...

, a gold medalist in the

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

, was third with 38.80 m (8 m handicap)Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw, Handicap
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 22 March 2014.
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 18 April 2014. The handicap event returned at the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

and

Ralph Rose Ralph Waldo Rose (March 17, 1885 – October 16, 1913) was an American track and field athlete. He was born in Healdsburg, California. Biography Standing 6 ft 5.5 in (197 cm) and weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), Rose was the first shot putter ...

repeated their 1–2 placings from the Olympic men's discus and

John Biller John Arthur Biller (November 14, 1877 in Newark, New Jersey – March 26, 1934 in Manhattan, New York) was an American athlete who competed mainly in standing jumps. He competed for the United States in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St L ...

, fifth in the main event, took third place. 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.

References

;Participation and athlete data
Athletics Men's Discus Throw Medalists
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-04-18.

Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-04-18. ;Olympic record progressions *Mallon, Bill (2012)
TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS
''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

''. Retrieved on 2014-03-12. ;Specific

External links

IAAF discus throw homepageOfficial Olympics websiteOlympic athletics records
from ''Track & Field News'' kji{{History of Olympic athletics events

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...