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Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Mac Wilkins
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates24 July 1976 (qualifying)
25 July 1976 (final)
Competitors30 from 20 nations
Winning distance67.50
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mac Wilkins
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Wolfgang Schmidt
 East Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) John Powell
 United States
← 1972
1980 →

The men's discus throw event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an entry list of 30 competitors from 20 nations, with two qualifying groups (30 jumpers) before the final (15) took place on Sunday July 25, 1976. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 60.00 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held in Saturday July 24, 1976.[1] The event was won by Mac Wilkins of the United States, the nation's 13th victory in the men's discus throw. Wolfgang Schmidt took silver, matching East Germany's best result to date in the event. John Powell gave the United States a second medal in the competition with his bronze. Czechoslovakia's three-Games medal streak, all won by Ludvík Daněk, ended as Daněk finished ninth; the American streak reached 18 Games.

Background

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This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning finalists from the 1972 Games were returning champion and three-time medalist Ludvík Daněk of Czechoslovakia, silver medalist (and three-time finalist) Jay Silvester of the United States, bronze medalist Ricky Bruch of Sweden, fourth-place finisher John Powell of the United States, seventh-place finisher (and 1968 finalist) Ferenc Tégla of Hungary, ninth-place finisher Pentti Kahma of Finland, and tenth-place finisher Silvano Simeon of Italy. Powell had been the best discus thrower in 1975, including breaking the world record, but countryman and rival Mac Wilkins rose to prominence in early 1976—setting a new world record in April and bettering it three times in one meet in May, breaking the 70 metres mark for the first time. Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany was the strongest challenger to the Americans.[2]

Senegal made its debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 18th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

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 60.00 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][3]

Records

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

World record  Mac Wilkins (USA) 70.86 San Jose, California, United States 1 May 1976
Olympic record  Al Oerter (USA) 64.78 Mexico City, Mexico 15 October 1968

Mac Wilkins had a qualifying round throw of 68.28 metres to break the Olympic record. Nobody, including Wilkins, was able to better that in the final, though all three medalists finished better than the old record.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 24 July 1976 10:00 Qualifying
Sunday, 25 July 1976 15:00 Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Mac Wilkins  United States 68.28 68.28 Q, OR
2 Velko Velev  Bulgaria 63.54 63.54
3 Wolfgang Schmidt  East Germany 63.14 63.14
4 Armando De Vincentiis  Italy 62.26 62.26
5 Pentti Kahma  Finland 62.10 62.10
6 Jay Silvester  United States X 62.06 62.06
7 Hein-Direck Neu  West Germany X 58.90 61.88 61.88
8 Ferenc Tégla  Hungary 57.00 61.66 61.66
9 John Powell  United States X 61.48 61.48
10 Knut Hjeltnes  Norway X 61.30 61.30
11 Norbert Thiede  East Germany 61.14 61.14
12 Josef Šilhavý  Czechoslovakia 60.82 60.82
13 Siegfried Pachale  East Germany X 60.64 60.64
14 Ludvík Daněk  Czechoslovakia 60.44 60.44
15 János Faragó  Hungary 59.30 60.06 60.06
16 Julián Morrinson  Cuba 59.92 56.66 58.50 59.92
17 Markku Tuokko  Finland 59.80 59.26 57.18 59.80
18 Stanisław Wołodko  Poland 57.56 57.84 59.42 59.42
19 Silvano Simeon  Italy 58.76 59.06 X 59.06
20 Ricky Bruch  Sweden 56.98 X 58.06 58.06
21 Nikolay Vikhor  Soviet Union X 57.50 54.52 57.50
22 Iosif Naghi  Romania X X 57.28 57.28
23 Ain Roost  Canada 56.56 X X 56.56
24 Borys Chambul  Canada X 55.86 X 55.86
25 Pete Tancred  Great Britain 55.20 X 55.50 55.50
26 Jos Schroeder  Belgium X 54.04 54.80 54.80
27 Ibrahima Guèye  Senegal 52.82 X 52.76 52.82
28 Salman Hessam  Iran 52.40 50.40 X 52.40
29 Mahmoud Al-Zabramawi  Saudi Arabia 31.80 35.30 35.94 35.94
Bishop Dolegiewicz  Canada X X X No mark

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mac Wilkins  United States 61.78 67.50 63.44 63.52 X 66.14 67.50
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Wolfgang Schmidt  East Germany 63.68 X 65.16 X 63.96 66.22 66.22
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) John Powell  United States 62.48 64.24 65.70 60.48 60.20 64.24 65.70
4 Norbert Thiede  East Germany 62.40 61.66 61.98 63.02 64.30 63.04 64.30
5 Siegfried Pachale  East Germany 59.62 64.04 60.02 61.08 59.62 64.24 64.24
6 Pentti Kahma  Finland 63.12 61.22 X X X 61.94 63.12
7 Knut Hjeltnes  Norway 60.26 62.02 61.60 61.26 61.24 63.06 63.06
8 Jay Silvester  United States 61.60 X X X 61.98 X 61.98
9 Ludvík Daněk  Czechoslovakia 60.12 61.28 59.62 Did not advance 61.28
10 Velko Velev  Bulgaria 60.94 60.68 X Did not advance 60.94
11 Ferenc Tégla  Hungary 57.44 57.00 60.54 Did not advance 60.54
12 Hein-Direck Neu  West Germany 59.44 60.26 60.46 Did not advance 60.46
13 Josef Šilhavý  Czechoslovakia 57.62 58.42 X Did not advance 58.42
14 János Faragó  Hungary 57.48 57.30 X Did not advance 57.48
15 Armando De Vincentiis  Italy 55.86 X X Did not advance 55.68

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 75.
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