Olympics: Men's Discus Throw Preview

Men’s Discus Throw

Qualifying Group A 8:30 AM Friday, August 12^th

Qualifying Group B 9:55 AM Friday, August 12^th

Final 9:50 AM Saturday, August 13^th

World Record: Jurgen Schult (Germany) 74.08m, 1986

Best Mark Past 10 Years: Gerd Kanter (Estonia) 73,88, 2006

Olympic Record: Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) 69.89m, 2004

A Standard: 65.00m

2012 Olympic Medalists

Robert Harting (Germany) 68.27, Ehsan Hadadi (Iran) 68.18, Ger Kanter (Estonia) 68.03

2015 World Championship Medalists

Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 67.40, Philip Milanov (Belgium) 66.90, Robert Urbanek (Poland) 65.18

2016 World Leaders

Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 68.15, Christoph Harting (Germany) 68.06, Robert Harting (Germany) 68.04

Team USA

Mason Finley, 26 (66.72/66.72), Travis Bailey, 24 (65.82/65.82), Andrew Evans, 25 (66.37/65.41)

Poland’s Piotr Malachowski has the top 2 throws in the world this year in the discus. He’s also the defending champion in the event from Beijing last year and holds a PB of 71.84. The Poles crushed the throws at the 2015 World Championships for both men and women and they look poised to keep the gold in house. However, the German duo of Harting and Harting will make things tricky. Christoph Harting and Robert Harting are #2 and #3 in the world for the disc this year. Robert is the defending Olympic Champion and also won the world title in 2011 and 2013. Christoph, on the other hand, is breaking onto the scene. He threw a big PR in 2015 (67.93 from 64.99) and then continued the progression in May of 2016 with a 68.06.

Philip Milanov, the silver medalist a year ago, will be a contender as well. The Belgian is currently #8 in the world, but has thrown 68.44 in a sloping ground competition. His personal best is his 67.26 from earlier this year, but he proved he has championship potential in China last summer.

Team USA will likely struggle to get on the medal stand. None of their throwers have topped 67 meters in their careers (the USA’s best discus thrower in 2016 was Penn’s Sam Mattis who threw 67.45 but didn’t qualify in Eugene). That being said, 65.18 got the bronze in China a year ago and all of these throwers have topped that this year. 26 year old Mason Finley will lead the charge after his US Championship. He’s having his best season by nearly 2 meters. Travis Bailey, the 24 year old, has also PRed this season. Evans, 25, had his best season in 2014 (66.37 throw), but is back on the right track in 2016.

In 2015, the USA sent 0 throwers to the finals. The same is true for 2013. And the London Games in 2012. So in 2016, with 3 very capable finalists on the roster, I’m hoping we can send some guys through to the top 12. I believe in this group and with a young core that includes Mattis, the future is bright for US discus throwing.

However, I don’t see any USA athletes being a factor here in the final. It should be an awesome battle between Malachowski and Robert Harting in the discus final. I lean towards Malachowski considering his last few seasons and his consistency, but Harting does have an impressive championship pedigree. The bronze is up for grabs and will probably go to a surprise competitor that I’ve overlooked. I couldn’t tell you who, however.

1.      Malachoswki, 2. R Harting, 3. Milanov