On This Day

Discus Throw in History

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Events in Sport

  • 1896-04-07 American athlete Robert Garrett wins the throwing double at the Athens Olympics by taking out the shot putt (11.22m); wins the discus the previous day
  • 1904-09-03 For the only time in Olympic Games history, there is a throw-off in the discus final after Americans Martin Sheridan & Ralph Rose tie with a best throw of 128' 10½" in St. Louis; Sheridan wins with 127' 10¼"
  • 1928-07-31 Halina Konopacka of Poland hurls discus world record 39.62m to win first gold medal in women's Olympic athletics at the Amsterdam Games; American Lillian Copeland and Ruth Sveberg of Sweden take minor medals
  • 1936-08-05 Ken Carpenter (50.48 Olympic record) and Gordon Dunn make it an American 1-2 in the men’s discus throw at the Berlin Olympics
  • 1948-08-02 Italians Adolfo Consolini and Giuseppe Tosi go 1-2 in the men's discus final at the London Olympics
  • 1948-08-04 The women's shot put introduced to track & field program at the London Olympics; inaugural gold medallist Micheline Ostermeyer of France who also won the women's discus gold

Al Oerter Wins 4th Gold

1956-11-27 Al Oerter wins first of 4 consecutive men's discus gold medals when he throws Olympic record 56.36m to lead an American medal sweep at the Melbourne Games; Fortune Gordien silver, Desmond Koch bronze

Discus Thrower Al Oerter
  • 1960-09-07 US sweeps the medals in the men's discus at the Rome Olympics; Al Oerter wins his 2nd of 4 career discus gold ahead of fellow Americans Rink Babka and Dick Cochran
  • 1964-10-15 American Al Oerter wins his third of 4 consecutive Olympic men's discus titles at the Tokyo Olympics; beats Czech Ludvík Daněk by 0.08m
  • 1964-10-19 Tamara Press of the Soviet Union wins the women's discus with an Olympic record throw 57.27m in Tokyo; first of 2 gold medals at the Games (shot put)
  • 1968-10-15 Al Oerter of the US wins the men's discus in an Olympic record 64.78m at the Mexico City Games; Oerter's unprecedented 4th consecutive Olympic discus title
  • 1983-05-29 Yuri Dumchev of USSR throws discus a record 71.86 m
  • 1984-08-26 Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)
  • 1986-06-06 Jurgen Schull sets world discus record (74.07 m)
  • 2016-08-16 Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perković retains her Olympic title with a distance of 69.21m at the Rio de Janeiro Games

Birthdays in Sport

  • 1900-02-26 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), born in Rawa Mazowiecka, Russian Empire (d. 1989)
  • 1901-09-25 Bud Houser, American field athlete (Olympic gold discus & shot put 1924, discus 1928), born in Winigan, Missouri (d. 1994)
  • 1901-12-03 Glenn Hartranft, American athlete (discus WR 47.89m 1925; Olympic silver shot putt 1924), born in Aberdeen, South Dakota (d. 1970)
  • 1904-11-25 Lillian Copeland, US discus thrower (Olympic gold 1932), born in New York City (d. 1964)
  • 1907-04-02 Harald Andersson, Swedish discus thrower (world record 52.42m 1934), born in Stanford, California (d. 1985)
  • 1913-04-19 Ken Carpenter, American athlete (Olympic gold discus 1936), born in Compton, California (d. 1984)
  • 1913-11-24 Gisela Mauermeyer, German discus thrower (Olympic gold 1936), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1995)
  • 1919-01-23 Nina Dumbadze, Soviet discus thrower (Olympic bronze 1952), born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 1983)
  • 1922-12-23 Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete (Olympic gold shot put, discus; bronze high jump 1948), born in Rang-du-Fliers, Pas-de-Calais, France (d. 2001)
  • 1929-04-27 Nina Ponomaryova, Russian athlete (Olympic gold USSR discus 1952, 60; bronze 1956), born in Smychka, Russia (d. 2016)
  • 1929-08-27 Elizabeta Bagrintseve, USSR, discus thrower (Olympic silver 1952)
  • 1931-01-22 Galina Zybina, Russian discus thrower (15 world records between 1952-58), born in Leningrad, Soviet Union
  • 1932-04-25 Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower (Olympic gold 1968), born in Chişinău, Romania (d. 1998)
  • 1932-11-13 Olga Connolly-Fikotova, Czech-American discus thrower (Olympic gold, 1956), born in Libiš, Czech Republic

Al Oerter (1936-2007)

1936-09-19 American discus thrower (Olympic gold 1956, 60, 64, 68), born in Astoria, New York

Al Oerter
  • 1937-02-27 L. Jay Silvester, American discus thrower (Olympic silver 1972), born in Tremonton, Utah
  • 1937-05-10 Tamara Press, Soviet athlete (Olympic gold shot put 1960, 64; discus 1960, 64), born in Kharkiv, Ukraine (d. 2021)
  • 1944-11-02 Liesel Westermann, German discus thrower (Olympic silver 1968; world record 63.96m 1969), born in Sulingen, Germany
  • 1945-06-09 Faina Melnik, Soviet discus thrower (Olympic gold 1972), born in Bakota, Ukraine
  • 1950-11-15 Mac Wilkins, American discus thrower (1st to break 70m), born in Eugene, Oregon
  • 1951-04-30 Danuta Rosani, Polish discus thrower (Olympic 1976) disqualified for drugs
  • 1956-03-28 Evelin Jahl, German discus thrower (Olympic-2 gold-1976), born in Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany
  • 1957-12-06 Luis Delís, Cuban discus thrower (Olympic bronze 1980), born in Guantánamo, Cuba
  • 1960-05-11 Jorgen Schult, German FR, discus thrower (world record 1986)
  • 1960-07-16 Gisela Beyer, German discus thrower (Olympics-4th place-1980), born in Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg, Germany
  • 1962-06-03 Connie Price-Smith, American discus thrower (Olympic 5th-96), born in Saint Charles, Missouri
  • 1962-07-25 Mike Buncic, American discus thrower, born in Patterson, New Jersey
  • 1963-09-23 Gabriele Reinsch, German DR, discus thrower (world record 1988)
  • 1966-01-16 Anthony Washington, American discus thrower (Olympic 4th 1996), born in Glasgow, Montana
  • 1966-02-21 Edie Boyer, American discus thrower, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota
  • 1970-10-30 Ekaterini Voggoli, Greek discus thrower, born in Larissa, Greece
  • 1972-05-31 John Godina, American shot putter (World C'ship gold 1995, 97, 01; Olympic silver 1996), born in Fort Still, Oklahoma
  • 1974-10-23 Beatrice Faumuina, New Zealand discus thrower (Olympics 96), born in Auckland, New Zealand
  • 1992-08-27 Daniel Ståhl, Swedish athlete (Olympic gold discus 2020; World C'ship gold 2019), born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden

Deaths in Sport

  • 1964-02-07 Lillian Copeland, US discus thrower (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 59
  • 1970-08-12 Glenn Hartranft, American athlete (discus WR 47.89m 1925; Olympic silver shot putt 1924), dies at 68
  • 1983-04-14 Nina Dumbadze, Russian discus thrower (Olympic bronze 1952), dies at 64
  • 1984-03-15 Ken Carpenter, American athlete (Olympic gold discus 1936), dies at 70
  • 1985-05-18 Harald Andersson, Swedish discus thrower (world record 52.42m 1934), dies at 78
  • 1989-01-29 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), dies at 88
  • 1994-10-01 Bud Houser, American field athlete (Olympic gold discus & shot put 1924, discus 1928), dies at 93
  • 1995-01-09 Gisela Mauermeyer, German discus thrower (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 81
  • 1998-11-15 Ludvik Danek, Czechoslovak discus thrower (b. 1937)
  • 2001-10-17 Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete (Olympic gold shot put, discus; bronze high jump 1948), dies at 78

Al Oerter (1936-2007)

2007-10-01 American discus thrower (Olympic gold 1956, 60, 64, 68), dies of heart failure aged 71

Al Oerter
  • 2016-08-19 Nina Ponomaryova, Russian athlete (Olympic gold USSR discus 1952, 60; bronze 1956), dies at 87
  • 2021-04-26 Tamara Press, Soviet athlete (Olympic gold shot put 1960, 64; discus 1960, 64), dies at 83

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