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 (30 jumpers) 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.
Background
This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1972 Games were returning champion and three-time medalist Ludvík Daněk of Czechoslovakia, silver medalist (and three-time finalist) Jay Silvester of the United States, bronze medalist Ricky Bruch of Sweden, fourth-place finisher John Powell of the United States, seventh-place finisher (and 1968 finalist) Ferenc Tégla of Hungary, ninth-place finisher Pentti Kahma of Finland, and tenth-place finisher Silvano Simeon of Italy. Powell had been the best discus thrower in 1975, including breaking the world record, but countryman and rival Mac Wilkins rose to prominence in early 1976—setting a new world record in April and bettering it three times in one meet in May, breaking the 70 metres mark for the first time. Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany was the strongest challenger to the Americans.
Senegal made its debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 18th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.
Competition format
The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 60.00 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 75.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Mac Wilkins had a qualifying round throw of 68.28 metres to break the Olympic record. Nobody, including Wilkins, was able to better that in the final, though all three medalists finished better than the old record.
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Date Time Round Saturday, 24 July 1976 10:00 Qualifying Sunday, 25 July 1976 15:00 Final
Results
Qualifying
Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes 1 Mac Wilkins 68.28 — — 68.28 , 2 Velko Velev 63.54 — — 63.54 3 Wolfgang Schmidt 63.14 — — 63.14 4 Armando De Vincentiis 62.26 — — 62.26 5 Pentti Kahma 62.10 — — 62.10 6 Jay Silvester X 62.06 — 62.06 7 Hein-Direck Neu X58.90 61.88 61.88 8 Ferenc Tégla 57.00 61.66 — 61.66 9 John Powell X 61.48 — 61.48 10 Knut Hjeltnes X 61.30 — 61.30 11 Norbert Thiede 61.14 — — 61.14 12 Josef Šilhavý 60.82 — — 60.82 13 Siegfried Pachale X 60.64 — 60.64 14 Ludvík Daněk 60.44 — — 60.44 15 János Faragó 59.30 60.06 — 60.06 16 Julián Morrinson 59.9256.6658.50 59.92 17 Markku Tuokko 59.8059.2657.18 59.80 18 Stanisław Wołodko 57.5657.84 59.42 59.42 19 Silvano Simeon 58.76 59.06 X 59.06 20 Ricky Bruch 56.98 X 58.06 58.06 21 Nikolay Vikhor X 57.5054.52 57.50 22 Iosif Naghi X X 57.28 57.28 23 Ain Roost 56.56 X X 56.56 24 Borys Chambul X 55.86 X 55.86 25 Pete Tancred 55.20 X 55.50 55.50 26 Jos Schroeder X54.04 54.80 54.80 27 Ibrahima Guèye 52.82 X52.76 52.82 28 Salman Hessam 52.4050.40 X 52.40 29 Mahmoud Al-Zabramawi 31.8035.30 35.94 35.94 — Bishop Dolegiewicz X X X No mark
Final
Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Mac Wilkins 61.78 67.5063.4463.52 X66.14 67.50 Wolfgang Schmidt 63.68 X65.16 X63.96 66.22 66.22 John Powell 62.4864.24 65.7060.4860.2064.24 65.70 4 Norbert Thiede 62.4061.6661.9863.02 64.3063.04 64.30 5 Siegfried Pachale 59.62 64.0460.0261.0859.6264.24 64.24 6 Pentti Kahma 63.1261.22 X X X61.94 63.12 7 Knut Hjeltnes 60.2662.0261.6061.2661.24 63.06 63.06 8 Jay Silvester 61.60 X X X 61.98 X 61.98 9 Ludvík Daněk 60.12 61.2859.62 Did not advance 61.28 10 Velko Velev 60.9460.68 X Did not advance 60.94 11 Ferenc Tégla 57.44 57.00 60.54 Did not advance 60.54 12 Hein-Direck Neu 59.4460.26 60.46 Did not advance 60.46 13 Josef Šilhavý 57.62 58.42 X Did not advance 58.42 14 János Faragó 57.4857.30 X Did not advance 57.48 15 Armando De Vincentiis 55.86 X X Did not advance 55.68
References
External links Results