The men's discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Sunday, July 13, 1924. 32 discus throwers from 18 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was four. The event was won by Bud Houser of the United States, the nation's fourth victory in the men's discus throw (and first since 1908); the Americans had medalled in each of the Olympic discus throw events to date. Houser had also won the shot put. Vilho Niittymaa took silver, keeping Finland on the podium in the event for the third straight Games. Thomas Lieb gave the United States its second discus throw medal of 1924, with his bronze.
Background
This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The three medalists from 1920 all returned: gold medalist Elmer Niklander and silver medalist Armas Taipale of Finland, and bronze medalist Gus Pope of the United States.
Brazil, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its seventh appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.
Competition format
The competition continued to use the single, divided-final format in use since 1896. Each athlete received three throws, with the top six receiving an additional three throws.Official Report, p. 140.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
In the qualification Bud Houser set a new Olympic record with 46.155 metres.
Schedule
Date Time Round Sunday, 13 July 1924 16:00 QualifyingFinal
Results
The best six throwers, all three groups counted together, qualified for the final. The throwing order and the throwing series are not available. The final was held on the same day. No competitor was able to improve his mark from the qualification.
Rank Athlete Nation Qualifying Final Distance Notes Bud Houser 46.155 Unknown 46.155 Vilho Niittymaa 44.95 Unknown 44.95 Thomas Lieb 44.83 Unknown 44.83 4 Gus Pope 44.42 Unknown 44.42 5 Ketil Askildt 43.405 Unknown 43.405 6 Glenn Hartranft 42.49 Unknown 42.49 7 Elmer Niklander 42.09 Did not advance 42.09 8 Heikki Malmivirta 41.16 Did not advance 41.16 9 Sándor Toldi 41.09 Did not advance 41.09 10 Kálmán Marvalits 40.82 Did not advance 40.82 11 Paddy Bermingham 40.42 Did not advance 40.42 12 Armas Taipale 40.215 Did not advance 40.215 13 Karl Jensen 39.78 Did not advance 39.78 14 Paul Béranger 38.93 Did not advance 38.93 15 Gustav Kalkun 38.46 Did not advance 38.46 16 Werner Nüesch 38.205 Did not advance 38.205 17 Camillo Zemi 37.465 Did not advance 37.465 18 Veljko Narančić 37.35 Did not advance 37.35 19 Daniel Pierre 37.015 Did not advance 37.015 20 José Galimberti 36.52 Did not advance 36.52 21 Teodors Sukatnieks 35.985 Did not advance 35.985 22 Arvīds Ķibilds 35.79 Did not advance 35.79 23 Octávio Zani 35.72 Did not advance 35.72 24 Sławosz Szydłowski 35.71 Did not advance 35.71 25 Armando Poggioli 35.29 Did not advance 35.29 26 Otto Garnus 35.16 Did not advance 35.16 27 Albino Pighi 34.985 Did not advance 34.985 28 Gabino Lizarza 34.20 Did not advance 34.20 29 František Janda-Suk 34.08 Did not advance 34.08 30 Georgios Zacharopoulos 34.02 Did not advance 34.02 31 António Martins 32.40 Did not advance 32.40 — Dimitrios Karabatis No mark Did not advance No mark
References
Sources