The men's

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

event at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

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had an entry list of 30 competitors from 20 nations, with two qualifying groups (30 jumpers) before the final (15) took place on Sunday July 25, 1976. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 60.00 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held in Saturday July 24, 1976. The event was won by

Mac Wilkins Mac Maurice Wilkins (born November 15, 1950) is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon. College Distance running coach B ...

of the United States, the nation's 13th victory in the men's discus throw. Wolfgang Schmidt took silver, matching East Germany's best result to date in the event. John Powell gave the United States a second medal in the competition with his bronze. Czechoslovakia's three-Games medal streak, all won by Ludvík Daněk, ended as Daněk finished ninth; the American streak reached 18 Games.

Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1972 Games were returning champion and three-time medalist Ludvík Daněk of Czechoslovakia, silver medalist (and three-time finalist) Jay Silvester of the United States, bronze medalist

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 ...

of Sweden, fourth-place finisher John Powell of the United States, seventh-place finisher (and 1968 finalist) Ferenc Tégla of Hungary, ninth-place finisher

Pentti Kahma Pentti Aatos Kahma (December 3, 1943 Alavieska) is a retired discus thrower from Finland, who is best known for winning the title at the 1974 European Championships in Rome, Italy. He represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympic ...

of Finland, and tenth-place finisher

Silvano Simeon Silvano Simeon (27 October 1945 – 12 December 2010) was an Italian discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a ...

of Italy. Powell had been the best discus thrower in 1975, including breaking the world record, but countryman and rival

rose to prominence in early 1976—setting a new world record in April and bettering it three times in one meet in May, breaking the 70 metres mark for the first time. Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany was the strongest challenger to the Americans. Senegal made its debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 18th 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 60.00 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. 75.

Records

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

had a qualifying round throw of 68.28 metres to break the Olympic record. Nobody, including Wilkins, was able to better that in the final, though all three medalists finished better than the old record.

Schedule

All times are

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( UTC-4)

Results

Qualifying

Final

References

External links

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Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics - Men's discus throw T Discus throw at the Olympics Men's events at the 1976 Summer Olympics