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Discus Throw


The history of the Discus Throw reaches back far into the times of Ancient Greece. Even Greek poet Homer referenced the Discus in 800 BC in The Iliad’s description of the Funeral Games for Patroclus. In 708 BC it was also introduced to the pentathlon in the Ancient Olympic Games and in 1896 to the modern Olympic Games for men and in 1928 for women. To define it in the most accessible way, the discus throw is a track and field discipline where an athlete throws a heavy and circle-shaped plate as far as possible while staying in a 2.5 meter diameter cycle.

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Technique
When the athlete is in the standing position, they stand with their back turned to the throwing area and put their hand in a claw-like position with their fingers and palm holding the disc. At the beginning of the movement, athletes start to rotate their body and swing the discus in order to generate momentum. In total, they complete one and a half spins while still keeping up their balance and staying inside the throwing circle. After that, athletes rotate their hips, shift their weight onto the front foot and stretch out the other arm for even more balance. When athletes have completed the spins and the previous movements, they transfer their energy from lower to upper body and swing their arm around. The discus should be released in a 40 degree-angle. Then, athletes still rotate their body but slow down steadily and keep their balance so they stay inside the circle.

Rules and Regulations

  • For both men and women there are standardizations for weight and size of the discus. Men’s discus must have a weight of 2kg and a diameter of 22cm while for women it has to be 1kg and 18cm in diameter
  • Athletes are only allowed to use one hand for gripping the discus and it should not touch any other part of the body or clothes. Only single finger tapes are permitted so to prevent injuries
  • The discus has to land in a marked are which is at a 34.92 degree angle
  • The throw is not valid if the athlete leaves the throwing cycle before the discus lands or if it lands outside of the throwing area. Athletes also can’t touch the top of the rim of the throwing cycle while delivering or take longer than 60 seconds for their throw after being called to the circle otherwise their throw won’t count

Best Performances

First ever official discus world record holder was US athlete James Duncan as he threw 47.58 meters in May 1912. Then in June 1986, German athlete Jurgen Schult achieved a solid world record with 74.08 meters and it wasn’t broken only until April 2024 with Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania throwing 74.35 meters and therefore being the current world-record holder. Concerning the women, German athlete Gabriele Reinsch threw 76.80 meters in July 1988 and remains unbeaten and she was also the first athlete to ever throw 75 meters.

Discus Throw
Discus throw – Wikipedia