Frantz Kruger (born 22 May 1975 in Kempton Park, South Africa) is a South African born Finnish discus thrower who won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. He is also a double African champion. His personal best throw of 70.32 metres, achieved in May 2002 in Salon-de-Provence, is the current African record. [1]
He was married to Finnish former triple jumper Heli Koivula Kruger (divorced 2016), and received Finnish citizenship in 2007. [2] Kruger has been available to represent Finland by a special permit from the government of IAAF since 20 August 2007. In international discus competition at Helsingborg, he set a new Finnish discus record, 69.97 metres. [3]
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.
The Men's Discus Throw at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 6 and August 7.
Heli Maarit Kruger is a Finnish former track and field athlete. She was born in Kauhajoki and represented Kauhajoen Karhu throughout her career. She lives in Vaasa. Her main athletic events were the triple jump and the long jump. She won the silver medal at the 2002 European Championships in Athletics in triple jump, with a wind assisted result of 14.83 metres. She held the Finnish record in triple jump, clearing 14.39 metres, from 2003 to 2021. She was married to discus thrower Frantz Kruger.
Vivian Peters-Chukwuemeka is a Nigerian shot putter and two-time Olympian. She won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has won three consecutive titles at the All-Africa Games from 1999 to 2007. She was the African Champion in the event in 2002, 2006 and 2008. She also competes in discus throw and hammer throw, but not on world level.
The men's discus throw event at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, 24 September and Monday, 25 September. Forty-five athletes from 28 nations competed. The event was won by Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, the nation's second victory in the men's discus throw. Lars Riedel of Germany took silver, becoming the 13th man to win multiple discus throw medals. Frantz Kruger earned South Africa's first medal in the event with his bronze.
Burger Lambrechts is a South African shot putter.
Elisângela Maria Adriano, is a Brazilian shot putter and discus thrower, whose personal best put is 19.30 metres, achieved in July 2001 in Tunja. Her personal best discus throw is 61.96 metres, achieved in May 1998 in São Leopoldo.
Dani Stevens is a retired Australian discus thrower who in 2009 became the youngest ever female world champion in the event. She is the current national and Oceanian record holder. Stevens qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and threw 58.77m in the Women's dicus throw. This was not a sufficient distance to qualify her for the final.
The men's discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Saturday, August 21, 1920, and on Sunday, August 22, 1920. 17 discus throwers from eight nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Elmer Niklander of Finland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's discus throw. Armas Taipale, the winner in 1912, took silver to become the second man to win multiple medals in the event. Gus Pope took bronze, continuing the American streak of podium appearances at all six discus competitions to date.
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.
Germán Luján Lauro is an Argentine shot putter and discus thrower. He is the South American record holder in the shot put both indoors and outdoors with marks of 21.04 m and 21.26 m, respectively. His personal best in the discus is 63.55 metres.
Mason Finley, is an American shot putter and discus thrower. He was on the track and field team at the University of Kansas before transferring to the University of Wyoming. He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in discus.
Victor Hogan is a South African track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. He has a personal best of 67.62m thrown in Stellenbosch at the South African championships making him 10 time South African Champion, and 3 time African Champion.
Julia Harting is a German athlete who specialises in the discus throw. She won the silver medal at the 2016 European Championships, and has represented Germany at two Olympics.
Apostolos Parellis is a Cypriot track and field athlete specializing in discus throw. He is the current Cypriot national record holder with 66.32 m since October 2019.
Daniel Ståhl is a Swedish athlete specialising in the discus throw. Ståhl is the Olympic champion and two-time world champion, setting the new championships record in Budapest.
Alexander Melei Rose is a Samoan-American athlete, competing primarily in the discus throw and occasionally in the shot put and the hammer throw. He represented Samoa at the 2016 Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as the Commonwealth Games and Pacific Games.