Discus throw at the Olympics

Discus throw at the Olympic Games
The inaugural discus throw in 1896
Overview
Sport	Athletics
Gender	Men and women
Years held	Men: 1896 – 2016 Women: 1928 – 2016
Olympic record
Men	69.89 m Virgilijus Alekna (2004)
Women	72.30 m Martina Hellmann (1988)
Reigning champion
Men	Christoph Harting (GER)
Women	Sandra Perković (CRO)

The discus throw at the Summer Olympics is one of four track and field throwing events held at the multi-sport event. The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896 (one of two throws events at the first Olympics, alongside the shot put). The women's event was first contested at the 1928 Olympics, being one of the five athletics events in the inaugural Olympic women's programme.

The Olympic records are 69.89 m (229 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in) for men, set by Virgilijus Alekna in 2004, and 72.30 m (237 ft 2 ¹⁄₄ in) for women, set by Martina Hellmann in 1988.

Two variations on the event have been contested at the Olympics: a two-handed competition at the , with athletes using both left and right arm putting techniques, and a stone throw at the 1906 Intercalated Games.

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.

Martin Sheridan, the Olympic champion in 1904 and 1908, won the 1906 title as well. A 1904 medallist, Nikolaos Georgantas, was runner-up, while Verner Järvinen took the bronze medal in addition to the Greek-style event gold medal he won at the 1906 Games.