Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

This will be the 29th appearance of the event, which is 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][3]

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][4]

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]

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).[5]

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

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

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)