Quick Facts Men's discus throw at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, Venue ...

Men's discus throw at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
Venue	Japan National Stadium
Dates	30 July 2021 (qualifying) 31 July 2021 (final)
Competitors	32 from 24 nations
Winning distance	68.90
Medalists
Daniel Ståhl  Sweden Simon Pettersson  Sweden Lukas Weißhaidinger  Austria
← 2016 2024 →

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The men's discus throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.^[1] Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking (no universality places were used in 2016).^[2] 32 athletes from 24 nations competed.^[3] Daniel Ståhl of Sweden won gold, with his countryman Simon Pettersson earning silver. It was the first victory in the event for Sweden and the first men's discus throw medal of any color for the nation since 1972. Lukas Weißhaidinger took Austria's first-ever Olympic in the men's discus with his bronze.

Matthew Denny took the early lead with a 65.76 metres in the first round. After almost fouling out of the qualifying round Lukas Weißhaidinger started the second round with a 66.65 metres to take the lead. Shortly afterward, Simon Pettersson almost matched it with a 66.58 metres of his own. The next thrower was his Swedish teammate Daniel Ståhl who launched the winner 68.90 m (226 ft 1⁄2 in). It turned out to be his only throw of the day good enough to win. In the third, Weißhaidinger would improve to his best of the day 67.07 metres but that couldn't withstand Pettersson's fifth round best of 67.39 metres. Denny would throw a personal best 67.02 metres in the final round, but not enough to get on the medal stand. Not only was it Sweden's first 1–2 finish in the discus, they were the only Swedish medals in the event other than Ricky Bruch's 1972 bronze.

This was the 29th appearance of the event, making it one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's discus throw event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 66.00 metres. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 32 is reached.^[2][4]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both outdoor and indoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.^[2][5]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the discus throw.^[2]

Entry number: 32.

More information Qualification standard, No. of athletes ...

Qualification standard	No. of athletes	NOC	Nominated athletes
Entry standard – 66.00	3	Germany	Daniel Jasinski Clemens Prüfer David Wrobel[6]
	3	Jamaica	Fedrick Dacres Traves Smikle Chad Wright
	3	United States	Mason Finley Reggie Jagers Sam Mattis
	2	Sweden	Simon Pettersson Daniel Ståhl
	1	Australia	Matthew Denny
	1	Austria	Lukas Weißhaidinger
	1	Belarus	Yauheni Bahutski
	1	Colombia	Mauricio Ortega
	1	Cyprus	Apostolos Parellis
	1	Ecuador	Juan Caicedo
	1	France	Lolassonn Djouhan
	1	Great Britain	Lawrence Okoye
	1	Iran	Ehsan Haddadi
	1	Italy	Giovanni Faloci
	1	Lithuania	Andrius Gudžius
	1	Norway	Ola Stunes Isene
	1	Poland	Piotr Małachowski
	1	Romania	Alin Firfirică
	1	Samoa	Alex Rose
	1	Slovenia	Kristjan Čeh
	1	Spain	Lois Maikel Martínez
	1	Ukraine	Mykyta Nesterenko
World ranking	1	Montenegro	Danijel Furtula
	1	Poland	Bartłomiej Stój
Universality places	1	Iceland	Guðni Valur Guðnason
Total	32

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The 2020 competition will continue to use the two-round format with divided final introduced in 1936. The qualifying round gives each competitor three throws to achieve a qualifying distance (not yet set; 2016 used 65.50 metres); if fewer than 12 men do so, the top 12 will advance. The final provides each thrower with three throws; the top eight throwers receive an additional three throws for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round throws are not considered for the final).^[7]

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area records are 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

More information Area, Distance (m) ...

Area	Distance (m)	Athlete	Nation
Africa (records)	70.32	Frantz Kruger	South Africa
Asia (records)	69.32	Ehsan Haddadi	Iran
Europe (records)	74.08 WR	Jürgen Schult	East Germany
North, Central America and Caribbean (records)	71.32	Ben Plucknett	United States
Oceania (records)	68.20	Benn Harradine	Australia
South America (records)	70.29	Mauricio Ortega	Colombia

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No new records were established during the competition.

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The men's discus throw will take place over two separate days.^[1]