Jürgen Schult (German pronunciation: [ˈjʏʁɡn̩ ˈʃʊlt], audio^ⓘ; born 11 May 1960) is a German former track and field athlete and, from 1986 until 2024, the world record holder in the discus throw. Schult represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic discus competition, where he won the gold medal.

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Jürgen Schult

Schult in 1988
Personal information
Born	(1960-05-11) 11 May 1960 (age 63)[1] Neuhaus, Hagenow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany[1]
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight	110 kg (243 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	East Germany (1979–1990) Germany (1991–2000)
Sport	Athletics
Event	Discus throw
Club	Schweriner SC SC Riesa
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	74.08 m (1986) WR
Medal record Men’s athletics Representing  East Germany /  Germany Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Discus 1992 Barcelona Discus World Championships 1987 Rome Discus 1999 Seville Discus 1993 Stuttgart Discus 1997 Athens Discus European Championships 1990 Split Discus throw 1998 Budapest Discus throw 1994 Helsinki Discus throw
Updated on 16 June 2015.

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Born in Amt Neuhaus, now in Lower Saxony, Schult was unable to compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to his country's boycott of the games.

He set a world record in the discus in 1986. As an athlete under the East German program, his throw of 74.08 meters (243.0 ft) bested the previous record of Soviet athlete, Yuriy Dumchev, of 71.86 meters (235.8 ft). This discus world record was one of the longest-standing men's world record ever (having surpassed the length of Jesse Owens' long jump record, which stood for 25 years and 79 days) ^[2] but eventually fell 37 years and 9 months later to Mykolas Alekna throwing 74.35 meters (243.9 ft).

In 1988, at the first ever track and field competition between East and West Germany, Schult refused to shake hands with his former teammate, Wolfgang Schmidt, after beating him; Schmidt had very shortly before moved from East to West Germany.

Later in his long sports career, Schult joined the reunified German team. He competed in a second Olympic Games in 1992, getting a silver medal, and the 1999 World Championships, again getting second place. He competed in his final Olympics in 2000 at the age of 40, finishing in eighth place.

Schult has a degree in sport, and in 2002 became the trainer of the German track and field association's men's discus team.

Schult represented the Traktor Schwerin sports club and trained with Dr. Hermann Brandt, later he represented the Schwerin and Riesa sports clubs and trained with Thomas Schult. While he was actively competing, he was 1.93 meters tall and weighed 110 kilograms.