Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

The men's discus throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking (no universality places were used in 2016). 32 athletes from 24 nations competed. Daniel Ståhl of Sweden won gold, with his countryman Simon Pettersson earning silver. It was the first victory in the event for Sweden and the first men's discus throw medal of any color for the nation since 1972. Lukas Weißhaidinger took Austria's first-ever Olympic in the men's discus with his bronze.

Summary Matthew Denny took the early lead with a 65.76 metres in the first round. After almost fouling out of the qualifying round Lukas Weißhaidinger started the second round with a 66.65 metres to take the lead. Shortly afterward, Simon Pettersson almost matched it with a 66.58 metres of his own. The next thrower was his Swedish teammate Daniel Ståhl who launched the winner . It turned out to be his only throw of the day good enough to win. In the third, Weißhaidinger would improve to his best of the day 67.07 metres but that couldn't withstand Pettersson's fifth round best of 67.39 metres. Denny would throw a personal best 67.02 metres in the final round, but not enough to get on the medal stand. Not only was it Sweden's first 1–2 finish in the discus, they were the only Swedish medals in the event other than Ricky Bruch's 1972 bronze.

Background

This was the 29th appearance of the event, making it one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's discus throw event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 66.00 metres. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 32 is reached.

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both outdoor and indoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the discus throw.

Entry number: 32.

Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletesEntry standard – 66.003 Daniel JasinskiClemens PrüferDavid WrobelAlternate Athlete: Christoph Harting, SCC Berlin.3 Fedrick DacresTraves SmikleChad Wright3 Mason FinleyReggie JagersSam Mattis2 Simon PetterssonDaniel Ståhl1 Matthew Denny1 Lukas Weißhaidinger1 Yauheni Bahutski1 Mauricio Ortega1 Apostolos Parellis1 Juan Caicedo1 Lolassonn Djouhan1 Lawrence Okoye1 Ehsan Haddadi1 Giovanni Faloci1 Andrius Gudžius1 Ola Stunes Isene1 Piotr Małachowski1 Alin Firfirică1 Alex Rose1 Kristjan Čeh1 Lois Maikel Martínez1 Mykyta NesterenkoWorld ranking1 Danijel Furtula1 Bartłomiej Stój Universality places1 Guðni Valur Guðnason Total 32

Competition format

The 2020 competition will continue to use the two-round format with divided final introduced in 1936. The qualifying round gives each competitor three throws to achieve a qualifying distance (not yet set; 2016 used 65.50 metres); if fewer than 12 men do so, the top 12 will advance. The final provides each thrower with three throws; the top eight throwers receive an additional three throws for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round throws are not considered for the final).

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area records are as follows.

Area Distance (m) Athlete Nation Africa 70.32 Frantz Kruger Asia 69.32 Ehsan Haddadi Europe 74.08 Jürgen Schult North, Central America and Caribbean 71.32 Ben Plucknett Oceania 68.20 Benn Harradine South America 70.29 Mauricio Ortega

No new records were established during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The men's discus throw will take place over two separate days.

Date Time Round Friday, 30 July 2021 9:00 Qualifying Saturday, 31 July 2021 19:00 Final

Results

Qualifying Qualification Rules: Qualifying performance 66.00 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes1 A Daniel Ståhl 66.12 66.12 2AAndrius Gudzius65.9465.07x65.943BKristjan Čeh65.45x63.3465.454AMatthew Denny61.5865.1364.9865.135ALukas Weißhaidingerxx64.7764.776AMauricio Ortega 61.1964.49x64.497BSimon Pettersson 60.6259.4764.1864.188ASam Mattis 62.3163.74 63.2163.74, 9ADaniel Jasinski x61.3563.2963.2910BOla Stunes Isene 61.5961.8463.2663.2611AClemens Prüfer 62.5261.4563.1863.1812BChad Wright 62.9360.8061.3762.93, 13BFedrick Dacres 62.9162.43x62.9114BBartłomiej Stój 62.8461.05x62.8415APiotr Małachowski x61.7662.6862.6816AAlin Firfirică 60.4261.90x61.9017BApostolos Parellis 61.7362.11x62.1118BAlex Rose 61.2861.7261.3061.7219BReginald Jagers III 59.33x61.4761.4720BMykyta Nesterenko 59.7160.6160.9560.9521ALolassonn Djouhan 60.74x60.5760.7422BDavid Wrobel 60.38xx60.3823BMason Finley xx60.3460.3424ADanijel Furtula 59.65x59.9359.9325ATraves Smikle 59.04xx59.0426AEhsan Haddadi 58.4858.98x58.9827BYauheni Bahutski 58.65xx58.6528AJuan Caicedox57.75x57.7529BGiovanni Faloci xx57.3357.3330BLois Maikel Martínez x54.69x54.69 —ALawrence Okoye xxx - BGuðni Valur Guðnason xxx -

Final Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes Daniel Ståhl 63.72 68.9065.1666.1067.0364.5868.90Simon Pettersson 61.3966.58x66.2467.3965.3967.39Lukas Weißhaidinger62.9266.6567.0766.86xx67.074Matthew Denny65.7665.5365.9465.0066.0667.0267.025Kristjan Čehx62.95x66.05x66.3766.376Andrius Gudžius64.05x63.8264.1162.81x64.117Mauricio Ortega 61.0663.51x64.0863.87x64.088Sam Mattis 61.1863.8863.14x62.39x63.889Chad Wright 61.4361.4262.56Did not advance62.5610 Daniel Jasinski 61.7562.44xDid not advance62.4411 Clemens Prüfer 61.7560.73xDid not advance61.7512Ola Stunes Isene 60.9561.18xDid not advance61.18

References