Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Al Oerter 1968.jpg
Al Oerter
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 14–15, 1968
Competitors27 from 19 nations
Winning distance64.78 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Al Oerter
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Lothar Milde
Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany
Bronze medal icon.svg Ludvík Daněk
Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia
  1964
1972  

The men's discus throw competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 14–15. [1] Twenty-seven athletes from 19 nations competed. [2] 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 fifth consecutive and 12th overall victory in the men's discus throw. Oerter finished his run of four victories in the event, the first person to win four consecutive gold medals in any individual Olympic event (Carl Lewis in the long jump and Michael Phelps in the 200 metre individual medley swimming did so later; Paul Elvstrøm had won previously four individual gold medals in sailing but had been forced to switch events when the programme changed, and Kaori Icho would later win four individual gold medals in wrestling but changed weight classes during her run). For the first time during Oerter's reign, he was the only American on the podium as Lothar Milde of East Germany (the first men's discus throw medal for any German athlete) and Ludvík Daněk of Czechoslovakia took the other two medals. Daněk was the seventh man to win at least two discus throw medals; Oerter remains the only one to win four.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1964 Games were three-time gold medalist Al Oerter of the United States, silver medalist Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia, fourth-place finisher Jay Silvester of the United States, seventh-place finisher Edmund Piatkowski of Poland, and eleventh-place finisher Hartmut Losch of the United Team of Germany (now representing East Germany). Silvester had taken the world record from Danek earlier in the year, and (as in 1964) defeated Oerter in the U.S. Olympic trials. He was the favorite, expected to dethrone Oerter. [2]

Cuba, El Salvador, Mali, and Nicaragua each made their debut in the men's discus throw; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 16th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieve the qualifying distance of 58.00 metres progressed to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes achieved this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reached the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in the last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Jay Silvester  (USA)68.40 Reno, United States 18 September 1968
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Al Oerter  (USA)61.00 Tokyo, Japan 15 October 1964

Jay Silvester broke the Olympic record in the qualifying round, throwing 63.34 metres. The top five men in the final also surpassed the old record, but only one—not Silvester—beat the new record. Al Oerter once again won with an Olympic record performance, breaking 64 metres three times in the final: 64.78 metres in the third throw, 64.74 metres in the fifth, and 64.04 metres in the sixth.

Schedule

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 14 October 196810:00Qualifying
Tuesday, 15 October 196815:00Final

Results

Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 58.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

RankGroupAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1A Jay Silvester Flag of the United States.svg  United States 63.34 OR 63.34Q, OR
2A Hartmut Losch Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 60.4060.40Q
3A Gary Carlsen Flag of the United States.svg  United States 60.3660.36Q
A Lothar Milde Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 60.3660.36Q
5A Günter Schaumburg Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 60.1460.14Q
6A Al Oerter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 59.3659.36Q
7A Ludvík Daněk Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 59.3658.1056.4259.36Q
8A Ricky Bruch Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 59.0859.08Q
9B Robin Tait Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 58.8858.88Q
10A Hein-Direck Neu Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany X55.2658.5658.56
11A Ferenc Tégla Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 57.1858.5058.50Q
12A Edmund Piątkowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 58.2458.24Q
13A Guram Gudashvili Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 57.4855.84X57.48
14A George Puce Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 57.34XX57.34
15B Namakoro Niaré Flag of Mali.svg  Mali X54.9256.6056.60
16B János Faragó Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 54.9856.00X56.00
17B Denis Ségui Kragbé Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 55.2454.24X55.24
18B Lech Gajdziński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 54.92XX54.92
19A Jens Reimers Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 53.18X54.0254.02
20B Joe Kashmiri State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 53.0053.9653.3053.96
21B Klaus-Peter Hennig Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 53.80XX53.80
22B Heimo Reinitzer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 51.9052.0053.5253.52
23B Modesto Mederos Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 52.30X49.4252.30
24B Bill Tancred Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain X48.8651.7451.74
25B Edy Hubacher Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland X49.8051.7051.70
26B Rolando Mendoza Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 39.6236.4638.7839.62
27B Mauricio Jubis Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 33.6235.9436.1836.18
B Lahcen Samsam Akka Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNS
B Praveen Kumar Sobti Flag of India.svg  India DNS
A Silvano Simeon Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS
B Nashatar Singh Sidhu Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia DNS

Final

Silvester's qualifying round distance of 63.34 did not count for the final, otherwise it would have given him the silver medal. Instead, his best result in the final was 61.78 metres, good only for fifth place. Oerter won for the fourth consecutive Games, beating Lothar Milde by 1.70 metres.

RankAthleteNation123456DistanceNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Al Oerter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 61.78X64.78 OR 62.4264.7464.0464.78 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Lothar Milde Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 62.4463.0862.5859.9860.2458.0063.08
Bronze medal icon.svg Ludvík Daněk Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 60.62X62.92X61.2861.3462.92
4 Hartmut Losch Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 62.1261.6860.3459.4858.9459.5062.12
5 Jay Silvester Flag of the United States.svg  United States 61.1061.78XXX60.4461.78
6 Gary Carlsen Flag of the United States.svg  United States 58.6259.2659.4659.3052.6058.5459.46
7 Edmund Piątkowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 59.4058.4657.6657.52X58.7259.40
8 Ricky Bruch Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 58.9458.0258.1259.2858.5058.3459.28
9 Hein-Direck Neu Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 55.96X58.66Did not advance58.66
10 Günter Schaumburg Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 56.6457.7058.62Did not advance58.62
11 Ferenc Tégla Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 56.7458.3657.78Did not advance58.36
12 Robin Tait Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 56.5257.6856.84Did not advance57.68

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 October 2020.