The women's

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 9 & September 10.

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Faina Melnik Faina Grigorievna Veleva-Melnik (; ; ; 9 June 1945 – 16 December 2016) was a Soviet discus thrower, a 1972 Summer Olympics champion in the discus event. During her career she set 11 world records. Career Melnik was Jewish, and was born in ...

was the strong favorite to win the gold. She has broken the world record five times since 1971 as well as being the

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in the same year. But twice in 1972 she had been beaten by

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Argentina Menis. Menis took the lead in round one breaking the Olympic record throw of . In the start of the fourth round Menis lead with Melnik in fifth. Menis then improved her distance to . Melnike threw next and overtook Menis with a throw of which held on to win the gold. Thirteen days later, Menis broke Melnik's world record with a throw of .

Records

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

Key: OR = Olympic record; p = pass; x = fault; NM = no mark

References

External links

Official report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics - Women's discus throw Women's discus throw Discus throw at the Olympics 1972 in women's athletics Women's events at the 1972 Summer Olympics