Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

The men's discus throw event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 29 competitors from 20 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Saturday October 1, 1988.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Jürgen Schult of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw and first medal since 1976. Romas Ubartas of the Soviet Union took silver, while Rolf Danneberg of West Germany earned bronze. Danneberg was the 10th man to win multiple discus throw medals, adding to his 1984 gold. For the first time, the United States competed in the event but did not make the podium (the Americans had previously failed to win a medal in the men's discus throw only in 1980, when the nation boycotted the Olympics).

Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Pictogram for athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date30 September 1988 (qualifications)
1 October 1988 (finals)
Competitors29 from 20 nations
Winning distance68.82 OR
Medalists
Jürgen Schult
 East Germany
Romas Ubartas
 Soviet Union
Rolf Danneberg
 West Germany

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1984 Games were gold medalist Rolf Danneberg of West Germany, silver medalist (and 1976 gold medalist) Mac Wilkins of the United States, fourth-place finisher Knut Hjeltnes of Norway, and ninth-place finisher Erik de Bruin of the Netherlands. Jürgen Schult of East Germany was favored; he had won the 1987 world championships and set a world record of 74.08 metres in 1986 that still stands as of 2020.[2]

Nigeria and Paraguay each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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 64.00 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

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

World record Jürgen Schult (GDR)74.08Neubrandenburg, East Germany6 June 1986
Olympic record Mac Wilkins (USA)68.28Montréal, Canada24 July 1976

Jürgen Schult's first throw in the final broke the Olympic record, setting a new one at 68.82 metres.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Friday, 30 September 19889:30Qualifying
Saturday, 1 October 198812:45Final

Results

Qualifying

Rank AthleteNation 123 Distance Notes
1Rolf Danneberg West Germany65.70 65.70Q
2Romas Ubartas Soviet Union65.58 65.58Q
3Jürgen Schult East Germany64.70 64.70Q
4Knut Hjeltnes Norway63.5062.66X 63.50q
5Gejza Valent Czechoslovakia61.8862.8463.46 63.46q
6Mike Buncic United StatesX63.16X 63.16q
7Mac Wilkins United States62.48X61.34 62.48q
8Yuriy Dumchev Soviet Union61.3060.2462.08 62.08q
9Imrich Bugár Czechoslovakia61.9461.4861.00 61.94q
10Erik de Bruin Netherlands58.5660.7261.66 61.66q
11Alois Hannecker West Germany61.44XX 61.44q
12Georgi Georgiev Bulgaria59.7861.34X 61.34q
13Vaclavas Kidykas Soviet Union58.8260.88X 60.88
14Svein-Inge Valvik Norway59.40X60.64 60.64
15Werner Reiterer AustraliaX57.5859.78 59.78
16Bradley Cooper Bahamas59.7456.8856.44 59.74
17Randy Heisler United StatesXX59.08 59.08
18Patrick Journoud France58.9457.6255.82 58.94
19Vésteinn Hafsteinsson Iceland58.9457.1055.70 58.94
20Paul Mardle Great Britain57.1856.0658.28 58.28
21Ray Lazdins Canada57.94XX 57.94
22Wulf Brunner West GermanyX57.50X 57.50
23Adewale Olukoju Nigeria51.3854.4447.60 54.44
24Ramón Jiménez Gaona Paraguay50.1848.8050.90 50.90
25Henry Smith Samoa47.9649.4048.98 49.40
26Min Se-hun South KoreaX46.5247.84 47.84
Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Ouiran Saudi ArabiaXXXNo mark
Eggert Bogason IcelandXXXNo mark
Mohamed Hamed Naguib EgyptXXXNo mark

Final

Rank AthleteNation 123456 Distance Notes
Jürgen Schult East Germany 68.82 OR 67.92 65.76 68.18 65.70 68.26 68.82OR
Romas Ubartas Soviet Union 66.86 66.20 66.24 64.40 63.74 67.48 67.48
Rolf Danneberg West Germany 65.58 63.60 X 63.88 67.38 62.56 67.38
4Yuriy Dumchev Soviet Union 64.00 63.74 63.54 63.66 62.86 66.42 66.42
5Mac Wilkins United States 61.88 X 65.12 63.84 65.90 62.96 65.90
6Géjza Valent Czechoslovakia X 63.36 62.46 62.80 64.28 65.80 65.80
7Knut Hjeltnes Norway 63.30 X 64.10 64.94 63.22 X 64.94
8Alois Hannecker West Germany 60.28 62.50 63.28 60.94 61.54 X 63.28
9Erik de Bruin Netherlands 63.06 X XDid not advance63.06
10Mike Buncic United States 62.46 XXDid not advance62.46
11Gueorgui Gueorguiev Bulgaria 61.24 61.12 59.66Did not advance61.24
12Imrich Bugár Czechoslovakia 59.60X 60.88Did not advance60.88

See also

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 244.
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