Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

Men's discus throw at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	6–7 August
Competitors	41 from 24 nations
Winning distance	68.27
Medalists
01 ! Robert Harting  Germany 02 ! Ehsan Haddadi  Iran 03 ! Gerd Kanter  Estonia
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01 !		Robert Harting	Germany
02 !		Ehsan Haddadi	Iran
03 !		Gerd Kanter	Estonia

The men's discus throw competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6–7 August. Each athlete receives three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieve the qualifying distance progress to the final. If less than twelve athletes achieve this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes reach the final. Each finalist is allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Six made the automatic qualifier to the finals, Ehsan Haddadi, Jorge Fernandez and Robert Harting on their first attempt. The top qualifier was defending champion Gerd Kanter, but it took him three throws to get a distance that would qualify. The #10 qualifier was two time champion Virgilijus Alekna.

In the final, most improved their distances by several meters. Alekna launched a 67.38 on the third throw of the competition. Four throws later, Haddadi took the lead with a 68.18, with Harting moving into second place with 67.79. That was the situation through the first four rounds. Kanter made minor improvements, but was out of the medals until his fifth throw of 68.03, knocking Alekna out of his fourth straight medal. Two throws later, Harting launched the winner, going just 9 cm beyond Haddadi with a 68.27. The 2.01m, 130 kg. Harting celebrated his medal on his victory lap skillfully jumping over the row of women's hurdles already on the track and doing a Hulk Hogan shirt rip.

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Prior to the competition^[update], the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.