The men's discus throw competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held at the Olympic Stadium on 21–23 August. It was originally planned to hold the discus throw at the Ancient Olympia Stadium, but it was discovered that the field was not large enough to accommodate the range of modern discus throwers, and would have posed a danger to spectators. As such, it was decided to move the discus throw and to hold the shot put at the ancient stadium, despite the fact that the shot put was not contested at the Ancient Olympic Games. Thirty-nine athletes from 26 nations competed.
Piotr Małachowski is a Polish retired discus thrower, two-time silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics. His personal best throw is 71.84 metres, ranks him fifth in all-time longest discus throw distances, achieved on 8 June 2013 at Hengelo, the Netherlands.
Robert Harting is a retired German discus thrower. He represents the sports club SCC Berlin, his coach is Torsten Schmidt. He is a former Olympic, World, and European champion in the men's discus throw. His younger brother Christoph is the event's 2016 Olympic champion.
The men's discus throw event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 16–19 August at the Beijing National Stadium. Thirty-seven athletes from 29 nations competed. The event was won by Gerd Kanter of Estonia, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw. Piotr Małachowski took silver to give Poland its first medal in the event. Lithuanian thrower Virgilijus Alekna's bronze made him the third man to win three medals in the sport, adding to his gold medals from 2000 and 2004.
The Men's Discus Throw event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 18 and August 19.
The men's hammer throw competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 3–5 August. There were 41 competitors from 32 nations. The event was won by Krisztián Pars of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the men's hammer throw since 1996 and fifth overall. Primož Kozmus of Slovenia, the 2008 winner, took silver. Koji Murofushi of Japan, the 2004 winner, took bronze. Kozmus and Murofoshi were the 12th and 13th men to earn multiple medals in the hammer throw.
The men's discus throw was a competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6–7 August. Forty-one athletes from 24 nations competed. The event was won by Robert Harting of Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw since 1996 and second overall. Ehsan Haddadi earned Iran's first medal in the event with his silver. Gerd Kanter of Estonia became the 15th man to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 2008 gold. Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania narrowly missed being the second man to win four medals in the event, finishing fourth.
The men's 100 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 13–14 August at the Olympic Stadium. 84 athletes from 57 nations competed.
The men's 200 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 16–18 August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange. There were 77 competitors from 48 nations. The event was won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, his third consecutive gold medal in the event. Bolt earned his eighth overall gold, needing only the 4x100 metres relay the next day to complete the sprint triple-triple. It was Jamaica's fourth victory in the event, second-most among nations. Andre De Grasse earned Canada's first medal in the event since 1928 with his silver; Christophe Lemaitre's bronze was France's first since 1960. The United States missed the podium for only the fifth time in the history of the men's 200 metres; it was the first time that it had done so in consecutive Games.
The men's 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–15 August at the Olympic Stadium. Fifty-eight athletes from 39 nations competed. The event was won by 0.46 seconds by David Rudisha of Kenya, the fourth man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the 800 metres. Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria took silver, the first medal for the nation in the 800 metres since 2000. The United States had an even longer medal-less streak broken, as Clayton Murphy's bronze was their first since 1992.
The men's high jump competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium between 14–16 August. Forty-four athletes from 28 nations competed. The event was won by Derek Drouin of Canada, the nation's first victory in the men's high jump since 1932. Drouin was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the high jump, after his 2012 bronze. Mutaz Essa Barshim, who had tied Drouin for bronze in 2012, was the tenth multiple medalist in the event. Barshim's silver was Qatar's fifth Olympic medal in any event, and the first better than bronze. Bohdan Bondarenko took bronze, Ukraine's first medal in the men's high jump.
The men's pole vault competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 13–15 August. Thirty-one athletes from 16 nations competed. Thiago Braz da Silva of Brazil won the gold medal, the nation's first medal in the men's pole vault. Renaud Lavillenie of France was unable to successfully defend his 2012 gold, but became the seventh man to win two medals with silver this time. Sam Kendricks's bronze returned the United States to the podium after a one-Games absence.
The men's long jump competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium between 12 and 13 August. Thirty-two athletes from 23 nations competed. The event was won by 1cm by Jeff Henderson of the United States, the nation's first gold medal in the event since 2004 and 22nd overall. Luvo Manyonga won South Africa's second silver medal in the men's long jump. Defending champion Greg Rutherford of Great Britain took bronze, becoming the tenth man to win a second medal in the event.
The men's triple jump competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15–16 August. Forty-seven athletes from 35 nations competed. The event was won by Christian Taylor of the United States, the fifth man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the triple jump. It was the United States' eighth victory in the event. Just as in London four years earlier, Will Claye took silver; the two Americans were the 13th and 14th men to win multiple medals in the event. Dong Bin of China earned bronze, the nation's first medal in the men's triple jump.
The men's shot put competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 18 August. Thirty-four athletes from 24 nations competed. The event was won by Ryan Crouser of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since 2004. His teammate Joe Kovacs took silver. Tomas Walsh earned New Zealand's first medal in the men's shot put.
The men's hammer throw was a competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange between 17–19 August. There were 32 competitors from 24 nations. The event was won by Dilshod Nazarov of Tajikistan, the nation's first medal in the men's hammer throw and first gold medal in any Olympic event. Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus took silver, the 14th man to win multiple medals in the event in adding to his 2008 bronze. Bronze went to Wojciech Nowicki of Poland, the nation's first medal in the event since 2000.
The men's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Thirty-one athletes from 22 nations competed. For the first time in Olympic history, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of an individual event. Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh repeated their gold, silver, and bronze (respectively) performances from the 2016 Summer Olympics. They became the 15th, 16th, and 17th men to earn multiple medals in the shot put; Crouser was the 4th to repeat as champion.
The men's discus throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking. 32 athletes from 24 nations competed. Daniel Ståhl of Sweden won gold, with his countryman Simon Pettersson earning silver. It was the first victory in the event for Sweden and the first men's discus throw medal of any color for the nation since 1972. Lukas Weißhaidinger took Austria's first-ever Olympic in the men's discus with his bronze.
The men's hammer throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 2 and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking. 31 athletes from 21 nations competed. Wojciech Nowicki of Poland won the gold medal, adding to his 2016 bronze to become the 15th man to earn multiple hammer throw medals. It was Poland's second gold medal in the event, after Szymon Ziółkowski's 2000 victory. Nowicki's countryman Paweł Fajdek took bronze. Between them was Norwegian thrower Eivind Henriksen, with his silver being Norway's first-ever Olympic medal in the men's hammer.
The men's javelin throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes competed; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.
