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 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.
Mohamed Naguib Hamed is an Egyptian athlete and among the very few of his compatriot athletes to win gold medals at African athletic events. He competed in the men's discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics.
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 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 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari is a Qatari track and field athlete who competed in the discus throw. He has represented Qatar at the Summer Olympics on two occasions, making his debut in 2000 and reaching the final at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was also a finalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. In 2003 he was banned from competing for two years due to his refusal to be tested for doping.
Australia has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since the inception of the Paralympics in the year 1960. The 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto was Australia's fifth Paralympic Games. Australia competed in 10 out of the 13 sports and were able to win medals in six of these sports. There were 44 athletes representing Australia at the Games with a number of these athletes participating in multiple sports. Of the 44 athletes, 34 were males and 10 were females. As a team, Australia won 41 medals, 16 of which were gold. This placed it just outside the top 10 in 11th position at the end of the Games. The Australian team won more gold medals at the 1976 Paralympic Games than at any of the previous four Paralympic Games. 26 athletes finished on the podium in their respective events. This represents more than half the number of athletes that Australia sent to Toronto. Six world records were broken by Australian athletes on their way to winning their respective events.
Kibwé Johnson is an American Olympic track and field athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics three times. Competed in the 2012 London Olympics where he made the final and finished 9th. No American had made the final since 1996. Johnson competed in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Jorge Fernández is a Cuban track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. He won the gold medal in the event at the Pan American Games in 2011 and is a two-time winner at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics. His personal best throw is 66.50 m, set in Lausanne in 2014.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
Ronald Odair de Oliveira Julião is a Brazilian track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw. He is a member of BM&F Bovespa's track club and is trained by João Paulo Alves da Cunha. He is the Brazilian record holder in the discus throw (65.55 m). He is the second highest ranked South American discus thrower after Jorge Balliengo and has won straight titles at the Brazil championships since 2005.
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.
Denia Caballero Ponce is a Cuban athlete who competes in the discus throw. She has a personal best of 70.65 metres for the event. She won the gold medal at the 2015 and the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships and was the bronze medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Caballero also was the Central American and Caribbean champion in 2011 and the 2011 Pan American Games bronze medallist.
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.
The 2013 African Junior Athletics Championships was the eleventh edition of the biennial, continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger. It was held at the Germain Comarmond Stadium in Bambous, Mauritius from 29 August – 1 September. A total of 223 athletes from 29 nations competed. Neither pole vault event was held, due to a lack of entries, and the decathlon and heptathlon competitions were also not contested.
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.
Stephen Ogochukwu Mozia is a US-born Nigerian shot putter. He is a three-time African Championships Bronze medallist. He also represented his country at the 2014 and 2016 World Indoor Championships, as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Aixa Middleton González is a Panamanian track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. Her personal best of 55.00 m is the Panamanian national record for the event. She has represented her country at the Central American and Caribbean Games, the South American Championships in Athletics, the Ibero-American Championships in Athletics and the 2015 Pan American Games.
Chioma Chukwujindu "CiCi" Onyekwere is an American-born Nigerian track and field athlete specializing in the Discus Throw. She has competed in the shotput and discus throw both on the collegiate level and internationally representing Nigeria and holds the African & Nigerian Record for the Discus Throw. Her personal best of 64.96 meters for the Discus Throw was achieved in 2023.
