2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's discus throw

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.

As the only man to throw in excess of seventy metres that season, reigning world and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia was the event favourite. Veteran athlete Virgilijus Alekna, the last athlete to beat Kanter in competition, was a strong medal possibility. Olympic silver medallist Piotr Małachowski was another contender, as was German Robert Harting who won silver at the previous world championships. The season had been of a high standard, with a number of athletes throwing over 65 m, including Frank Casañas, Bogdan Pishchalnikov and Zoltán Kővágó.Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-09). Men's Discus Throw - PREVIEW . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.

On the first day of competition, qualification went smoothly as many of the highest ranked athletes qualified for the final on their first throw, with seven of them passing the automatic qualification mark of 64.50 m. Casañas and Estonia's number two Aleksander Tammert were the only high-profile athletes to be eliminated. Home competitor Harting had the best throw of the day (66.81), and Kővágó and Kanter were the next best qualifiers.Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-18). Event Report - Men's Discus Throw - Qualification . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.

In the final, Małachowski and Harting started very well on their first throws, with the former taking the lead with a Polish record-breaking throw, while the latter recorded a season's best. The pre-event favourites Kanter and Alekna were unable to challenge the two, as the Estonian took the bronze with his fourth round throw of 66.88 m and the Lithuanian never bettered his first throw of the day (66.36 m) and finished up in fourth place. Consistently throwing better than the rest of the field, Harting and Małachowski battled for the top spot. The Pole improved his lead with 69.15 m in the fifth round, another national record, but Harting took the gold with his final throw of the competition, recording a personal best of 69.43 m.Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-19). Event Report - Men's Discus Throw - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.Irwin, Pirate (2009-08-20). . Agence France-Presse. Retrieved on 2009-08-22.

The victory for the home athlete was marred by his controversial comments regarding an initiative by victims of doping in East Germany. Former East German athletes, who had suffered through the state-sponsored doping program in the 1980s, were distributing glasses outside the stadium to encourage people not to "turn a blind eye" to doping. Harting said that he wished his discus would bounce from the ground and hit wearers in the eyes, but he later retracted and apologise for his statement.Hometown hero gets dramatic win, South African gold medalist faces gender test . Deutsche Welle (2009-08-20). Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.Chadband, Ian (2009-08-20). World Athletics: Usain Bolt cruises to 200m final in 20.08sec. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2009-08-22.

Medallists GoldSilverBronze

Records World record74.08Neubrandenburg, East Germany6 June 1986Championship record70.17Helsinki, Finland7 August 2005World leading71.64Kohila Parish, Estonia25 June 2009African record70.32Salon-de-Provence, France26 May 2002Asian record69.32Tallinn, Estonia3 June 2008North American record71.32Eugene, United States4 June 1983South American record66.32Rosario, Argentina15 April 2006European record74.08Neubrandenburg, East Germany6 June 1986Oceanian record66.37Salinas, United States22 May 2008

Qualification standards A standardB standard 64.50 m 62.50 m

Schedule Date Time RoundAugust 18, 2009 10:05 QualificationAugust 19, 2009 20:10 Final

Results

Qualification Qualification: Qualifying Performance 64.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nationality #1 #2 #3 Result Notes A Robert Harting 66.81 66.81 Q A Gerd Kanter 66.73 66.73 Q B Zoltán Kővágó 65.82 65.82 Q B Jarred Rome 60.92 65.51 65.51 Q A Casey Malone 65.13 65.13 Q B Virgilijus Alekna 65.04 65.04 Q A Mario Pestano 65.03 65.03 Q B Piotr Małachowski 64.20 64.48 62.65 64.48 q A Bogdan Pishchalnikov 62.93 61.09 60.08 62.93 q 10 A Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly 62.84 62.09 62.84 q 11 B Gerhard Mayer 62.53 59.33 62.19 62.53 q 12 B Frantz Kruger 62.29 60.45 62.29 q 13 A Aleksander Tammert 62.24 61.93 59.44 62.24 14 A Ian Waltz 60.27 62.04 62.04 15 A Benn Harradine 60.73 61.74 60.79 61.74 16 B Frank Casañas 61.10 61.10 17 A Gaute Myklebust 60.80 60.80 18 A Bertrand Vili 60.68 60.68 19 B Erik Cadee 60.64 60.64 20 B Markus Münch 60.55 59.12 60.55 21 B Ivan Hryshyn 59.93 57.28 59.93 22 B Märt Israel 59.58 59.58 23 A Jorge Balliengo 56.69 55.32 59.19 59.19 24 B Ahmed Mohamed Dheeb 55.33 59.16 59.16 25 B Nikolay Sedyuk 59.03 58.62 59.03 26 A Oleksiy Semenov 58.78 57.31 58.78 27 A Daniel Schärer 58.50 58.23 57.22 58.50 28 B Germán Lauro 57.88 57.88 29 B Ercüment Olgundeniz 56.54 57.52 57.52 A Haidar Nasir

Final

Rank Athlete Nationality #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Result Notes Robert Harting 68.25 67.04 67.80 67.80 69.43 69.43 PB Piotr Małachowski 68.77 68.05 67.00 69.15 67.33 69.15 NR Gerd Kanter 65.91 65.65 66.88 66.24 65.45 66.88 Virgilijus Alekna 66.36 66.32 65.68 64.53 66.24 66.36 Casey Malone 63.61 61.59 65.64 64.84 65.98 66.06 66.06 Zoltán Kővágó 63.09 62.47 65.17 61.69 65.17 Bogdan Pishchalnikov 62.03 63.29 63.18 64.26 65.02 65.02 Gerhard Mayer 62.16 60.49 63.17 60.83 63.17 Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly 62.13 62.83 62.76 62.83 10 Mario Pestano 62.76 62.27 62.76 11 Jarred Rome 58.48 62.47 62.47 12 Frantz Kruger 59.77 59.77

Key: PB = Personal best, NR = National record

References General Discus throw results. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18. Specific