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Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Gerd Kanter (2012)
VenueBeijing National Stadium
Dates16 August 2008 (qualifying)
19 August 2008 (final)
Competitors37 from 29 nations
Winning distance68.82
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gerd Kanter
 Estonia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Piotr Małachowski
 Poland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Virgilijus Alekna
 Lithuania
← 2004
2012 →

The men's discus throw event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 16–19 August at the Beijing National Stadium.[1] Thirty-seven athletes from 29 nations competed.[2] The event was won by Gerd Kanter of Estonia, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw. Piotr Małachowski took silver to give Poland its first medal in the event. Lithuanian thrower Virgilijus Alekna's bronze made him the third man to win three medals in the sport, adding to his gold medals from 2000 and 2004.

Background

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This was the 26th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 2004 Games were two-time gold medalist (and 1996 finalist) Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, silver medalist Zoltán Kővágó of Hungary, bronze medalist (and 2000 finalist) Aleksander Tammert of Estonia, fifth-place finisher Frantz Kruger of South Africa, sixth-place finisher Casey Malone of the United States, eleventh-place finisher Gabor Mate of Hungary, and Róbert Fazekas (also of Hungary), who had initially won in 2004 but had been disqualified for doping. Alekna had won the 2003 and 2005 world championships as well as the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. The 2007 world champion was Gerd Kanter of Estonia. Alekna and Kanter were favored in Beijing.[3][2]

The British Virgin Islands made its debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 25th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification

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The qualifying standards were 64.50 m (211.61 ft) (A standard) and 62.50 m (205.05 ft) (B standard).[4] Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard in the same qualifying period.[5] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 64.50 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[2][6]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Jürgen Schult (GDR) 74.08 Neubrandenburg, East Germany 6 June 1986
Olympic record  Virgilijus Alekna (LTU) 69.89 Athens, Greece 23 August 2004

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are China standard time (UTC+8)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 16 August 2008 10:40 Qualifying
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 21:00 Final

Results

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Qualifying round

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Qualification: 64.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 A Piotr Małachowski  Poland 65.94 65.94 Q
2 A Virgilijus Alekna  Lithuania 65.84 65.84 Q
3 B Rutger Smith  Netherlands 64.09 65.65 65.65 Q
4 B Frank Casañas  Spain X X 64.99 64.99 Q
5 B Gerd Kanter  Estonia 59.65 64.66 64.66 Q
6 A Bogdan Pishchalnikov  Russia 62.68 63.93 64.60 64.60 Q
7 A Mario Pestano  Spain 64.42 61.16 X 64.42 q
8 A Robert Harting  Germany 64.19 X X 64.19 q
9 B Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari  Qatar 63.83 63.72 61.60 63.83 q
10 A Aleksander Tammert  Estonia 57.79 61.57 63.10 63.10 q
11 A Róbert Fazekas  Hungary X 61.61 62.64 62.64 q
12 B Frantz Kruger  Finland X 58.60 62.48 62.48 q
13 A Gabor Mate  Hungary X 55.15 62.44 62.44
14 B Märt Israel  Estonia 61.98 59.78 61.63 61.98
15 A Dzmitry Sivakou  Belarus 59.64 X 61.75 61.75
16 A Michael Robertson  United States 60.97 61.64 X 61.64
17 B Ehsan Haddadi  Iran 61.08 X 61.34 61.34
18 B Gerhard Mayer  Austria 61.32 X 58.13 61.32
19 A Casey Malone  United States 59.48 X 61.26 61.26
20 B Ercüment Olgundeniz  Turkey 58.99 60.83 X 60.83
21 B Zoltán Kővágó  Hungary 60.79 59.46 60.44 60.79
22 B Vikas Gowda  India 59.58 X 60.69 60.69
23 A Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly  Egypt 59.71 58.95 60.24 60.24
24 A Oleksiy Semenov  Ukraine 57.84 60.18 59.41 60.18
25 B Ian Waltz  United States 60.02 X X 60.02
26 A Abbas Samimi  Iran 58.01 59.92 58.85 59.92
27 A Jorge Fernández  Cuba X 59.60 59.58 59.60
28 A Jan Marcell  Czech Republic 59.52 X 56.31 59.52
29 B Martin Marić  Croatia 59.25 X 59.09 59.25
30 B Jorge Balliengo  Argentina 58.71 58.82 X 58.82
31 A Benn Harradine  Australia 58.55 57.50 57.91 58.55
32 B Niklas Arrhenius  Sweden 56.64 58.22 56.77 58.22
33 B Hannes Kirchler  Italy X X 56.44 56.44
34 A Sultan Mubarak Al-Dawoodi  Saudi Arabia 56.29 55.54 56.24 56.29
35 A Vadim Hranovschi  Moldova 56.19 X 55.78 56.19
36 B Haidar Nasser Shaheed  Iraq 54.19 X X 54.19
37 B Eric Matthias  British Virgin Islands 47.87 50.87 53.11 53.11

Final

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[7]

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gerd Kanter  Estonia 63.44 66.38 62.75 68.82 X 65.98 68.82
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Piotr Małachowski  Poland 66.45 67.82 66.98 63.91 65.78 X 67.82
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Virgilijus Alekna  Lithuania X 65.77 64.42 67.79 X 67.18 67.79
4 Robert Harting  Germany 65.58 64.84 67.09 X 66.51 67.09
5 Frank Casañas  Spain 59.54 62.16 64.46 64.11 64.97 66.49 66.49
6 Bogdan Pishchalnikov  Russia 64.09 64.25 61.13 65.88 X X 65.88 PB
7 Rutger Smith  Netherlands 64.61 65.31 64.36 64.25 X 65.39 65.39
8 Róbert Fazekas  Hungary 62.25 63.43 62.49 X X 59.34 63.43
9 Mario Pestano  Spain 60.46 62.84 63.42 Did not advance 63.42
10 Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari  Qatar 59.62 X 62.55 Did not advance 62.55
11 Frantz Kruger  Finland 61.98 61.80 60.71 Did not advance 61.98
12 Aleksander Tammert  Estonia X 61.32 61.38 Did not advance 61.38

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  2. ^ a b c "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Discus champion thrown out of Games after doping breach". ABC News Australia. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Entry Standards - The XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China - 8/24 August 2008". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  5. ^ "Entry Standards - The XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China - 8/24 August 2008". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  6. ^ Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.
  7. ^ "Iaaf.org - Olympic Games 2008 - Results 08-19-2008 - Discus Throw M Final". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2008-08-19.