Ray Lazdins is a retired discus thrower from Canada, who represented his native country twice at the Summer Olympics, starting in 1988 (Seoul, South Korea). He is a nine-time national champion in the discus throw.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Canada | ||||
| 1986 | Commonwealth Games | Edinburgh, Scotland | 1st | Discus |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 21st | Discus |
| 1989 | Jeux de la Francophonie | Morocco | 2nd | Discus |
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 21st | Discus |
The discus throw, also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by the fifth-century-BC Myron statue Discobolus. Although not part of the current pentathlon, it was one of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon, which can be dated back to at least 708 BC, and it is part of the modern decathlon.
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.
Martin John Sheridan was a three time Olympic Games gold medallist. He was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, and died in St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York, the day before his 37th birthday, a very early casualty of the 1918 flu pandemic. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York. He was part of a group of Irish-American athletes known as the "Irish Whales".
Jason Tunks is a Canadian former discus thrower who has represented Canada in the Olympics in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. He currently holds the Canadian National Record for discus at 67.88 m (222.7 ft).
The men's discus throw was one of six throwing events on the Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The competition was held on July 16, 1908. 42 throwers from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Martin Sheridan of the United States, his second consecutive victory in the event. The Americans completed their first sweep in the discus throw, with Merritt Giffin taking silver and Bill Horr bronze.
Gabriele Hinzmann is a German former track and field athlete who competed mainly in the discus throw, such as at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where she competed for East Germany and won the bronze medal.
Mac Maurice Wilkins is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon.
The men's discus throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Friday, July 12, 1912. Forty-one discus throwers from 15 nation competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Armas Taipale of Finland, the nation's first medal in the men's discus throw. Richard Byrd took silver and James Duncan took bronze to continue the United States' podium streak at five consecutive Games.
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.
Vikas Shive Gowda is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter. Born in Mysore, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His father, Shive Gowda, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padma Shri awardee in 2017.
Robert 'Bob' Boyd Weir is a male retired English athlete, best known as a discus thrower, who was a twelve-time national champion. Weir also achieved success in hammer throw, winning Commonwealth Games gold in 1982, and competed in strongman competitions.
Werner Josef Reiterer is an Austrian-born retired discus thrower and shot putter from Australia, who represented the latter at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. His best result was winning the title in the men's discus throw at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Reiterer is an eight-time national champion in the discus throw.
Jane Haist was a Canadian discus thrower and shot putter, who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She is best known for winning two gold medals for Canada at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in the women's discus throw and in the women's shot put event. She was national U.S. collegiate champion in the discus representing the University of Tennessee in 1977.
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.
The final of the Men's Discus Throw event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Friday August 8, 2003. Jason Tunks won the first discus gold for Canada in the history of the Pan American Games.
The men's discus throw event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an entry list of 30 competitors from 20 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (15) took place on Sunday July 25, 1976. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 60.00 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held in Saturday July 24, 1976. The event was won by Mac Wilkins of the United States, the nation's 13th victory in the men's discus throw. Wolfgang Schmidt took silver, matching East Germany's best result to date in the event. John Powell gave the United States a second medal in the competition with his bronze. Czechoslovakia's three-Games medal streak, all won by Ludvík Daněk, ended as Daněk finished ninth; the American streak reached 18 Games.
The discus throw is one of four track and field throwing events held at the Summer Olympics. The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The women's event was first contested at the 1928 Olympics, being one of the five athletics events in the inaugural Olympic women's programme.
Timothy "Tim" Nedow is a Canadian track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw. He has personal bests of 200.10 m and 21.38 m for the events, respectively. He was the bronze medallist for Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2013 Francophonie Games.
David Lorne Steen is a Canadian former track and field athlete who specialised in the shot put. He was a two-time gold medallist in the event at the Commonwealth Games in 1966 and 1970, breaking games records both times. He had won the bronze medal at the 1962 event. His personal record was 19.21 m, set in 1970.
George Watt Sutherland was a Canadian all-round track and field athlete. He was the hammer throw gold medallist at the 1938 British Empire Games. He also took a bronze medal in the discus throw at the same competition. He had been the runner-up in the hammer in 1934 British Empire Games.
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