2024-08-07 16:42:39
Selection
The expectations of the greatest optimists did not come true, but two Lithuanian athletes will enter the discus throwing finals of the Paris Olympic Games on Wednesday evening.
On Monday morning, 21-year-old Mykolas Alekna and 33-year-old Andrius Gudžius successfully threw the discus in the qualifying competition. Meanwhile, the discus thrown by 23-year-old Martynas Alekna flew too close and the eldest son of Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna did not make it among the twelve most powerful.
Only four athletes met the selection criteria. On Monday, Myk. Alekna (67.47 m), Australian Matthew Denny (66.83 m), Austrian Lukas Weisshaidinger (66.72 m) and German Clemens Prufer (66.36 m) threw the discus further than 66 meters.
Olympic and world champion Swede Daniel Ståhl, European champion Slovenian Kristjanas Čeh, former world and European champion A. Gudžius, several other capable athletes were still dozing on Monday morning. The results of these men were worse than the selection norm, but good enough to place them in the top twelve. They also won the right to perform the most important throws of the Olympic cycle on Wednesday night.
Myk. Alekna
Mykolas Alekna will enter the sector as the leader of the season. The 21-year-old from Vilnius threw the discus 74 meters 35 centimeters on April 14 in the US city of Ramona (Oklahoma) and broke the almost 38-year-old world record of the German Jurgen Schult.
Myk. Alekna achieved the record under unusual circumstances. The hurlers come to Ramona early in the season looking for a favorable wind and record results, but the ranking of this competition is not high.
However, later Myk.Alekna threw the disc very far in “normal” tournaments as well. He won seven out of eight events this year, including all three rounds of the Diamond League, throwing the discus further than 70 meters in four events.
Myk. Alekna experienced the only failure of the season in June during the European Championships held in Rome. In Jose, the Lithuanian threw the discus 67.48 meters and took only the third place. The new world record holder was surpassed by Slovenian Kristjan Čeh (68.08 m) and Austrian Lukas Weisshaidinger (67.70 m) by several tens of centimeters.
Myk. Alekna is participating in the Olympic Games for the first time. However, his collection already includes gold (2022) and bronze (2024) at the European Championships, silver (2022) and bronze (2023) at the World Championships.
A. Gudžius
33-year-old Andrius Gudžius ranks only 25th in this season’s world leaderboard. His discus flew the farthest (66.57 m) at the beginning of July during the competition held in Sekeshfehvar (Hungary), where A. Gudžius took third place.
A. Gudžius also participated in all three stages of the Diamond League this year, but he was significantly behind the leaders: he took fifth place in Marrakech, and seventh place in Oslo and Stockholm.
A. Gudžius achieved his greatest career victories in the last decade, when he became the world (2017) and European (2018) champion. In this Olympic cycle, he shone the most during the 2022 World Championships, where he won a bronze medal.
An experienced athlete consistently throws the discus around 63-65 meters during all competitions, but it is not enough to fight for an Olympic medal.
Season leaders
This year, three athletes threw the discus further than 70 meters. In addition to the world record holder Myk. Alekna, Alex Rose from Samoa (71.48 m) and K. Čeh (70.48 m) reached the grandmaster limit once.
Myk. Alekna is the only athlete who threw the discus further than 70 meters in European stadiums this year. The Lithuanian discus flew 70.91 meters in Oslo, 70.20 meters in Sėkešfehärvar.
A. Rose achieved a personal season record in Allendale (Michigan, USA), K. Čech – in Doha (Qatar).
Oklahoma
When Myk.Alekna broke the world record in the fields of Oklahoma, a number of other top discus throwers were still preparing for the season. However, a few decent competitors also came to Ramona to catch the wind in mid-April. On the same day, Jamaicans Ralford Mullings and Rojë Stona and American Reggie Jagers threw more than 69 meters, A.Rose, German Mika Sosna and New Zealander Connor Bell threw more than 68 meters.
Three of these throwers made it to the finals of the Paris Games. R. Mullings, R. Stona and A. Rose will try to fight for an Olympic medal on Wednesday. Meanwhile, M. Sosna and C. Bellas finished the Olympic competition already at the selection stage.
R. Jagers did not even make it to the US national team. Three other Americans entered the discus sector at the Paris Stadium on Monday: Sam Mattis, Andrew Evans and Joseph Brown. None of them made the top 12 and won the right to make at least three more shots on Wednesday.
The main competitor
Myk. Alekna’s main opponent in the Olympic final will be the 25-year-old Slovenian Kristjanas Čeh. The Slovenian’s performance curve has fluctuated wildly this season. He even in two stages of the Diamond League
he did not get among the prize winners (he did not participate in the third round), but he once threw more than 70 meters and became the European champion in June.
The gold medal of the European Championships is one of the biggest victories of K. Čech’s career. His next big victory is the title of world champion in 2022.
K. Čeh, unlike Myk. Alekna, already has Olympic Games experience. Three years ago, the Slovenian traveled to Tokyo with great ambitions. However, his hopes of winning a medal were not fulfilled – K. Čeh took only fifth place.
Champion
Sweden’s Daniel Ståhl climbed to the top of the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. He was once the world leader in the discus throw, winning two world championship gold medals (in 2019 and 2023), but now a younger generation of track and field athletes seems ready to push the 31-year-old Ståhl aside.
This season, the results of D. Ståhl himself are no longer the same as last year. In the season’s leaderboard, the experienced Swede is only in tenth place (68.99 m). On the other hand, he was third in all three rounds of the Diamond League and will also be a very dangerous opponent in Paris.
By the way, another Swede, Simon Petterson, won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games. 30-year-old S. Petterson continues his career, but this season his results are so bad that he didn’t even make the Olympic team.
Other competitors
Myk. Alekna and K. Čeh will be clear favorites in the discus throwing competition. If they play the discus as well as they can, the other competitors will only have to figure out the fate of the bronze medal.
The most serious contenders for the third place on the podium are D. Ståhlis, Austrian Lukas Weisshaidinger and Australian Matthew Denny.
32-year-old L. Weisshaidinger has never been such a prominent figure in the discus throwing sector as Myk. Alekna, K. Čeh or D. Ståhlis. However, he is patiently waiting for his chance, he throws quite steadily during the most important competitions and has already won four medals at the Olympic Games, World and European championships.
Exactly two months ago, the Austrian took advantage of Myk. Alekna’s stumble and won the silver medal of the European Championships.
28-year-old M. Denny is right next to the leaders. The Australian has yet to win an Olympic or World Championships medal, but has finished second in all three Diamond League events this season.
This season’s results show that the Aussie and Aussie are ready to fight for at least third place in Paris.
Jamaikiečiai
In athletics, the maximum quota per country is three athletes. On Monday, three discus throwers from Lithuania, Germany, the USA and Jamaica competed in the selection.
Not a single American, one German, two Lithuanians and even three Jamaicans made it to the finals.
Fedrick Dacres was Jamaica’s leading discus thrower for the past few seasons. 30-year-old F. Dacres still throws the disc quite far, his personal record this season is 66.30 meters (less than a foot worse than A. Gudžius). However, in the Jamaican championships, the veteran took only fourth place and did not make the Olympic team.
Traves Smikle, Rojë Stona and Ralford Mullings, who beat F.Dacres in the national championships, confirmed on Monday at Paris Stadium that they are well prepared and will return to the Olympic sector on Wednesday evening.
By the way, R. Mullings is the youngest participant in the Olympic final. He, like Myk. Alekna, will turn 22 in the fall. However, the Jamaican was born a few weeks later than the Lithuanian. Myk. Alekna’s birthday is on September 28, R. Mullings’ birthday is on November 22.
R. Stona is also quite young by discus throwing standards. This athlete is 25 years old.
Past
Lithuanian discus throwers won three gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games, counting the times of the USSR.
Romas Ubartas cleared the way to the Olympic podium. He brought home a silver medal from the Seoul Games in 1988. Four years later, at the Barcelona Games, R. Ubartas became the first athlete from Independent Lithuania to win the title of Olympic champion.
A few years later, Virgilijus Alekna took over the golden baton. He won gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games, and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Since 1988, Lithuanian discus throwers have not only missed a single Olympic tournament, but also in ten consecutive games at least one of them reached the Olympic final.
In 1988, R. Ubartas (silver) threw the discus in the final, in 1992 – again R. Ubartas (gold), in 1996 – V. Alekna (5th place) and Vaclav Kidykas (8th place), in 2000 – V. Alekna (gold). , in 2004 – again V. Alekna (gold), in 2008 – again V. Alekna (bronze), in 2012 – V. Alekna for the fifth and last time (4th place), in 2016 – Andrius Gudžius (12th place), 2021 year – again A. Gudžius (6th place).
This year, two Lithuanian discus throwers reached the Olympic final for the second time.
2024-08-07 16:42:39