Discus Throw

This is one of the most traditional disciplines - already at the Olympic Games in ancient Greece discus throw was part of the pentathlon (dating back to 708 BC), as you can see in many statues.

One great difficulty lies in shifting from the very straight, linear movement of the 110m hurdles to this rotational discipline - causing a lot of many failed attempts unfortunately.

The discus weighs 2 kg with a diameter of 220 mm and has aerodynamic qualities; for juniors it is lighter (1,75 kg).

At the beginning of the attempt the thrower stands in the discus ring (made of concrete, measuring 2,5 m in diameter) facing away from the direction of the throw. Then he spins 1 ½ times around his body axis, his throwing arm holding the discus outstretched. The discus is released and has to land inside a 40° sector. Ideally it is spun off the index finger to get (for right-hand throwers) a clockwise rotation - the faster the rotation the more stability the discus gets while flying.

An attempt is failed if the athlete does not exit the discus ring from the rear half, if he touches the outside or the border of the ring while throwing or if the discus does not land inside the sector.

Decathletes get (once again) 3 attempts - the best of which counts for the overall score (20 points for 1 m). The best athletes like Bryan Clay can throw over 50 m - receiving around 900 points. Often older athletes are often better throwers - due to their larger experience and also often higher muscle strength.

Some of the best decathletes in this event with their PBs:

• Bryan Clay (USA) - 55,87 m
• Maurice Smith (JAM) - 55,49 m
• Aleksei Sysoyev (RUS) - 54,08 m
• Michael Smith (CAN) - 52,90 m
• Dmitriy Karpov (KAZ) - 52,80 m

To compare the current world record for this event is 74,08 m, held by Jürgen Schult.