Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Athletics pictogram.svg
Pictogram for athletics
Venues Centennial Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 29 (qualifying)
July 31 (final)
Competitors40 from 30 nations
Winning distance69.40 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Lars Riedel
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Vladimir Dubrovshchik
Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus
Bronze medal icon.svg Vasiliy Kaptyukh
Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus
  1992
2000  

The men's discus throw was an event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were 40 competitors from 30 nations. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was held on July 31, 1996. [2] The event was won by Lars Riedel of Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw (though both East and West Germany had previously won). Belarus won two medals in its debut, with Vladimir Dubrovshchik earning silver and Vasiliy Kaptyukh taking bronze.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1992 Games were silver medalist (and 1988 gold medalist Jürgen Schult of Germany, bronze medalist Roberto Moya of Cuba, fourth-place finisher Costel Grasu of Romania, fifth-place finisher Attila Horváth of Hungary, ninth-place finisher David Martínez of Spain, eleventh-place finisher Vésteinn Hafsteinsson of Iceland, and twelfth-place finisher Anthony Washington of the United States. Lars Riedel of Germany, who had not made the final in 1992, had won the last three world championships (and would win, take third place, and win again in the next three). [1]

Belarus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 22nd 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 62.50 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. [1] [3]

Records

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

World recordFlag of East Germany.svg  Jürgen Schult  (GDR)74.08 Neubrandenburg, East Germany 6 June 1986
Olympic recordFlag of East Germany.svg  Jürgen Schult  (GDR)68.82 Seoul, South Korea 1 October 1988

Lars Riedel's fifth and sixth throws in the final both exceeded the old record, reaching 69.40 metres and 69.24 metres.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 29 July 19969:30Qualifying
Wednesday, 31 July 199619:33Final

Results

Qualifying

RankAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1 Lars Riedel Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 64.6664.66Q
2 Virgilijus Alekna Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 64.5064.50Q
3 Anthony Washington Flag of the United States.svg  United States 63.6663.66Q
4 Vitaliy Sidorov Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine X57.6063.4263.42Q
5 Vladimir Dubrovshchik Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 63.2263.22Q
6 Attila Horváth Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 58.9462.9062.90Q
7 Vaclavas Kidykas Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 59.6462.7462.74Q
8 Jürgen Schult Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 62.5862.58Q
9 Sergey Lyakhov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.6262.4262.42q
10 Adam Setliff Flag of the United States.svg  United States 62.3658.4260.0662.36q
11 Alexis Elizalde Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 60.9862.2261.4462.22q
12 Vasiliy Kaptyukh Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 57.2861.1462.2262.22q
13 Nick Sweeney Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 58.8262.0461.0662.04
14 John Godina Flag of the United States.svg  United States 61.8259.8857.4661.82
15 Bob Weir Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 61.6460.54X61.64
16 Ramón Jiménez Gaona Flag of Paraguay (1990-2013).svg  Paraguay 58.1861.36X61.36
17 Adewale Olukoju Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria X60.9859.3260.98
18 Li Shaojie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 58.5460.0660.2060.20
19 Diego Fortuna Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 57.7859.3060.0860.08
20 Marek Bilek Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 59.8658.4258.6259.86
21 Svein Inge Valvik Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 59.3458.3459.6059.60
22 Roberto Moya Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 59.2257.60X59.22
23 Dashdendev Makhashiri Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 59.1654.18X59.16
24 Igor Primc Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 59.1256.4057.6259.12
25 Aleksander Tammert Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 58.84X59.0459.04
26 Costel Grasu Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 58.30X58.5658.56
27 Dragan Mustapić Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia X57.9456.6257.94
28 Andriy Kokhanovsky Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 57.90XX57.90
29 Marcelo Pugliese Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 56.72XX56.72
30 Shakti Singh Flag of India.svg  India 53.7256.5854.3056.58
31 Aleksandr Borichevskiy Flag of Russia.svg  Russia X56.4655.1856.46
32 Vésteinn Hafsteinsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 53.9452.1456.3056.30
33 Jason Tunks Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada XX55.5855.58
34 Mickaël Conjungo Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic XX55.3455.34
35 Michael Möllenbeck Flag of Germany.svg  Germany X55.1855.0655.18
36 Glen Smith Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 54.88XX54.88
37 Roman Poltoratsky Flag of Uzbekistan (3-2).svg  Uzbekistan XX51.9651.96
38 Jaroslav Žitňanský Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia X50.9451.5051.50
39 Chris Sua'mene Flag of Samoa.svg  Western Samoa 49.2251.2850.2451.28
David Martínez Flag of Spain.svg  Spain XXXNo mark

Final

RankAthleteNation123456DistanceNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Lars Riedel Flag of Germany.svg  Germany XX65.4063.1069.40 OR 69.2469.40 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Vladimir Dubrovshchik Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 64.8666.6064.3859.68XX66.60
Bronze medal icon.svg Vasiliy Kaptyukh Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 63.2464.0065.80X63.8265.0865.80
4 Anthony Washington Flag of the United States.svg  United States 65.42XX61.34X62.5065.42
5 Virgilijus Alekna Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 62.2865.3064.50X64.5463.7465.30
6 Jürgen Schult Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 62.8264.4262.6264.6264.3863.7864.62
7 Vitaliy Sidorov Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 63.44XX62.7663.7862.8263.78
8 Vaclavas Kidykas Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 61.4857.5262.78X61.6861.8862.78
9 Alexis Elizalde Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 60.5260.3662.70Did not advance62.70
10 Attila Horváth Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 60.6662.2859.72Did not advance62.28
11 Sergey Lyakhov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 60.6259.90XDid not advance60.62
12 Adam Setliff Flag of the United States.svg  United States X56.30XDid not advance56.30

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. "Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 94.