Mykolas Alekna breaks oldest Athletics record in discus throw
Sport
5 min read
Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania broke the longest-standing men’s world record in the discus throw event. He threw the discus to 74.35 meters at the Oklahoma Throws Series meeting in Ramona, United States of America, on 14 April 2024.
Just a day before Mykolas Alekna's world-record performance, Ramona track and field arena also saw the spectacular performance of Cuban Yaime Perez, who threw 73.09 meters. The Cuban throw has been the world's longest women’s discus throw since 1989.
Mykolas Alekna broke the 38-year-old record of 74.08 meters set by Jurgen Schult of East Germany. It is still the longest-standing record in athletics.
Jurgen Schult set the world record throw of 74.08 meters in Neubrandenburg(Germany) on June 6, 1986.
Some of the longest-standing world records in athletics are Marita Koch's in the women's 400 meters, set in 1985; Jarmila Kratochvilova in the women's 800 meters, set in 1983; and Yuriy Sedykh in the men's hammer throw, set in 1986.
The 21-year-old Mykolas Alekna's first throw was of 72.21 meters, and the second was 70.32 meters. In his third throw, Alekna threw the discus 72.89 meters. His subsequent fourth throw was 70.51 meters. He created the world record in his fifth attempt by throwing the disc to 74.35 meters.
Achievement of Mykolas Alekna and his family
The 21-year-old Mykolas has won the world and European under-20 titles. At the age of 19, he won the European senior crown in 2022. In 2022, he became the youngest world discus medallist in history, winning silver in the World Athletics Championship in Eugene(USA).
Mykolas Alekna belongs to an illustrious family. His father, Virgilijus Alekna, won gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and Athens 2004 Olympics. He also won the world title in 2003 and 2005.
Before Mykolas Alekna's record-breaking throw, his father was second on the all-time list with a 73.88-meter throw in 2000.
However, Virgilijus Alekna is now third on the all-time list after his son Mykolas Alekna and
Jurgen Schult.
Discus Throw
Discus throw is an ancient sports event that was part of the ancient Olympic games in Greece. In modern times, credit for rediscovering the game was given to Georg Kohlrausch and his students in the 1870s.
The men's discus throw competition was included in the first modern Summer Olympics games in Athens in 1896. The women's competition was introduced at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics.
The weight of the discus has been fixed at 2 kg for men and 1 kg for women. The metal disc is basically thrown by an athlete standing inside a circle 2.5 meters in diameter.
World Athletics
World Athletics is the governing body of athletics worldwide. It was founded as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in 1912 during the closing ceremony of the Stockholm Summer Olympics.
The International Amateur Athletic Federation's name was changed to the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001. Finally, in 2019, it was again changed to World Athletics.
Headquarters: Monaco
President: Sebastian Coe of England
