Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Venue Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates8 August 1984 (qualifying)
10 August 1984 (final)
Competitors20 from 14 nations
Winning distance66.60
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Rolf Danneberg
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Mac Wilkins
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg John Powell
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1980
1988  

The men's discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California had an entry list of 20 competitors from 14 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on August 10, 1984. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Rolf Danneberg of West Germany, the nation's first medal in the men's discus throw and the first victory by any German athlete in the event (East Germany had won two silvers, neither pre-war Germany nor the United Team had won any medals). Mac Wilkins and John Powell of the United States won silver and bronze; they were the eighth and ninth men to win multiple discus throw medals (both had medaled in 1976). The United States continued its 19-Games streak of earning at least one medal every time it appeared, missing the podium only in the boycotted 1980 Games; however, this would be the last Games in that streak—and, in fact, the last medals the United States would earn in the event through at least 2020.

Background

This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the 1980 Games returned, mainly due to the Soviet-led boycott. The 1980 silver medalist Imrich Bugár of Czechoslovakia had won the first world championships in 1983, as well as the 1982 European championships; bronze medalist Luis Delís of Cuba was the 1983 Pan American champion; and fifth-place finisher Yuriy Dumchev of the Soviet Union set the world record in 1983. In their absence, the home nation American team was favored. [2]

The Bahamas, Egypt, Mauritius, and Samoa each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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 62.00 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. [2] [3]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Yuriy Dumchev  (URS)71.86 Moscow, Soviet Union 29 May 1983
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Mac Wilkins  (USA)68.28 Montréal, Canada 24 July 1976

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 8 August 19849:30Qualifying
Friday, 10 August 198417:30Final

Results

Qualifying round

The qualifying round was held on August 8, 1984.

RankAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1 Mac Wilkins Flag of the United States.svg  United States 60.5465.8665.86Q
2 Rolf Danneberg Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 59.6663.4863.48Q
3 Luciano Zerbini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 63.4463.44Q
4 John Powell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 62.9262.92Q
5 Stefan Fernholm Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden X62.8462.84Q
6 Art Burns Flag of the United States.svg  United States 62.6062.60Q
7 Erik de Bruin Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 60.7661.0661.5661.56q
8 Alwin Wagner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany X61.56X61.56q
9 Kostas Georgakopoulos Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 60.7460.6660.9460.94q
10 Robert Weir Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain XX60.9260.92q
11 Knut Hjeltnes Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 60.8059.32X60.80q
12 Marco Martino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 59.5860.76X60.76q
13 Werner Hartmann Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 57.9059.8859.9259.92
14 Robert Gray Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 56.3856.6259.3459.34
15 Richard Slaney Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 56.0256.7857.6657.66
16 Bradley Cooper Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas X52.0653.7053.70
17 Henry Smith Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 51.2850.9451.9051.90
18 Dominique Béchard Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 39.8441.1040.2441.10
Mohamed Naguib Hamed Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt XNo mark
Vésteinn Hafsteinsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 59.0255.9859.5859.58DPG [4]
Marco Bucci Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS

Final

RankAthleteNation123456Distance
Gold medal icon.svg Rolf Danneberg Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 64.74X63.6466.60X66.2266.60
Silver medal icon.svg Mac Wilkins Flag of the United States.svg  United States 65.96X65.20X66.30X66.30
Bronze medal icon.svg John Powell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 64.6863.3464.1264.0665.1465.4665.46
4 Knut Hjeltnes Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 64.7262.4065.2863.7862.5064.3265.28
5 Art Burns Flag of the United States.svg  United States 63.72XXX63.3264.9864.98
6 Alwin Wagner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 61.8262.7662.7063.9461.1664.7264.72
7 Luciano Zerbini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 60.1861.1463.50XX60.1463.50
8 Stefan Fernholm Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 63.08X62.2063.2262.2059.8263.22
9 Erik de Bruin Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 56.8862.3260.10Did not advance62.32
10 Robert Weir Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 59.8661.36XDid not advance61.36
11 Kostas Georgakopoulos Flag of Greece.svg  Greece X59.1660.30Did not advance60.30
Marco Martino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy XXXDid not advanceNo mark

See also

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 288.
  4. Vésteinn Hafsteinsson finished seventh at 59.98 metres, but was subsequently disqualified as his doping test proved positive.