Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Al Oerter 1960.jpg
Al Oerter (1960)
Venue Olympic Stadium
Date15 October 1964
Competitors29 from 21 nations
Winning distance61.00 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Al Oerter
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Ludvik Danek
Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia
Bronze medal icon.svg Dave Weill
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1960
1968  

The men's discus throw was one of four men's throwing events on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October 1964. 29 athletes from 21 nations entered, with 1 additional athlete not starting in the qualification round. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Al Oerter of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's discus throw. Oerter became the first man to win three medals in the event, all of them gold (through the 2016 Olympics, two other men have won three medals but neither of them won three gold medals). He was only the second person to win three consecutive gold medals in any individual athletics event (after John Flanagan in the hammer from 1904 to 1912). It was the third of his four consecutive wins in the event. Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia took silver to break up the Americans' two-Games dominance of the discus podium; no non-American had won a medal since 1952. Dave Weill earned bronze to make this the fourth straight Games that the United States had won at least two medals in the event.

Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1960 Games were two-time gold medalist Al Oerter of the United States, fourth-place finisher József Szécsényi of Hungary, fifth-place finisher Edmund Piątkowski and fourteenth-place finisher Zenon Begier of Poland, sixth-place finisher Viktor Kompaniyets, eighth-place finisher Kim Bukhantsov, and fifteenth-place finisher Vladimir Trusenyov of the Soviet Union, ninth-place finisher Pentti Repo of Finland, twelfth-place finisher Lothar Milde of the United Team of Germany, twenty-first-place finisher Warwick Selvey of Australia, and twenty-second-place finisher Cees Koch of the Netherlands. Bukhantsov had also been a finalist in 1956. Oerter was the first man to break 200 feet, with his first world record in 1962. Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia took the world record shortly before the Games, however, breaking 63 and 64 meters (and 210 feet). Oerter lost the U.S. trials to Jay Silvester, and entered the Games hampered by injuries. [2]

Iran, the Ivory Coast, and Puerto Rico each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 15th 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 55.00 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 six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted. [2] [3]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the Czech Republic.svg  Ludvik Danek  (TCH)64.55 Turnov, Czechoslovakia 2 August 1964
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Al Oerter  (USA)59.18 Rome, Italy 7 September 1960

Al Oerter led the qualifying round with a new Olympic record of 60.54 metres. Ludvik Danek, throwing later, beat the old record but not Oerter's new record. In the final, Danek (three times), Dave Weill (once), and Jay Silvester (once) all topped the old record but could not beat the new one. Oerter himself managed only one throw past the old record—but it was the best throw of the whole competition, giving Oerter the gold medal and another new Olympic record of 61.00 metres.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 15 October 196410:00
14:30
Qualifying
Final

Results

Qualifying

The qualification standard was 55.00 metres. Each thrower had three attempts to reach that standard. Since only 10 throwers made the mark, the next two furthest also advanced to meet the minimum 12 in the final. The table shows the results of the three qualifying rounds. [4]

RankAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1 Al Oerter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 60.5460.54Q, OR
2 Ludvik Danek Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 58.8858.88Q
3 Jay Silvester Flag of the United States.svg  United States X57.8157.81Q
4 Viktor Kompaniyets Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 57.4057.40Q
5 Dave Weill Flag of the United States.svg  United States 56.9556.95Q
6 Hartmut Losch Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 56.4656.46Q
7 Zenon Begier Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 56.3156.31Q
8 Roy Hollingsworth Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 52.6055.0855.9655.96Q
9 Edmund Piątkowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 55.2255.22Q
10 József Szécsényi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 55.0455.04Q
11 Kim Bukhantsev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 54.94XX54.94q
12 Vladimir Trusenyov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 53.8151.9452.2553.81q
13 Fritz Kühl Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 53.5353.04X53.53
14 Lothar Milde Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 53.3950.83X53.39
15 Pentti Repo Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 52.93X50.6052.93
16 Dako Radošević Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 51.2252.7151.3752.71
17 Kees Koch Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 51.2052.5751.0852.57
18 Jiří Žemba Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia X52.1351.8052.13
19 Warwick Selvey Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.83X51.9651.96
20 Ernst Soudek Flag of Austria.svg  Austria X51.7850.9651.78
21 Les Mills Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 44.1851.7051.2251.70
22 Georgios Tsakanikas Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 50.7651.0348.0751.03
23 Shohei Kaneko Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 44.6343.3146.4646.46
24 Segui Denis Kragbe Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 44.0746.4344.0346.43
25 Ignacio Reinosa Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 46.3645.96X46.36
26 Gideon Ariel Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 45.1044.2646.1246.12
27 Jalal Keshmiri State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran X45.2444.9645.24
28 Kim Byeong-gi Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 42.73XX42.73
Lars Haglund Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden XXXNo mark
Valko KostovFlag of Bulgaria (1948-1967).svg  Bulgaria DNS

Finals

The scores from the qualification round were erased and each thrower was given three throws. The six best in those three received another three throws, keeping all six.

RankAthleteNation123456DistanceNotes
Gold medal icon.svgAl OerterFlag of the United States.svg  United States 57.6558.3455.1154.3761.00 OR X61.00 OR
Silver medal icon.svgLudvik DanekFlag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 59.7358.83X60.5258.3857.1760.52
Bronze medal icon.svgDave WeillFlag of the United States.svg  United States X59.4956.1556.1555.9452.4559.49
4Jay SilvesterFlag of the United States.svg  United States 56.99X57.5457.4659.09X59.09
5József SzécsényiFlag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 54.3452.1456.9757.23X54.6657.23
6Zenon BegierFlag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 57.0652.4555.83XX56.6857.06
7Edmund PiatkowskiFlag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 52.9455.8153.87Did not advance55.81
8Vladimir TrusenevFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 53.7054.7852.98Did not advance54.78
9Kim BukhantsevFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union X50.1554.38Did not advance54.38
10Roy Anselm HollingsworthFlag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 53.7453.87XDid not advance53.87
11Hartmut LoschFlag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 51.4452.08XDid not advance52.08
12Viktor KompaniyetsFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union X51.96XDid not advance51.96

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 53.
  4. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw Qualifying Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2017.