Every competitor is allowed three attempts to mark their best throw. Each country is allowed to send three discus throwers at the event.įrom the qualifying event, only 12 athletes with the best throws can proceed to the final. Sport guide: Throwing Discus Discus throw rules and scoring system at the OlympicsĪthletes achieving the Olympic qualification mark represent the country at the Games. Each athlete is given eight attempts at the Olympics to mark their best possible throw. There is also a particular boundary marked for landing the disc and if lands beyond then the throw is considered invalid. And if the athlete crosses the circle before the disc lands on the ground then it is considered a foul throw. The athletes are also prohibited to touch the ground beyond the circle. The metal disc is basically thrown by an athlete by standing inside a circle with a diameter of 2.5m.ĭiscus throwers are not allowed to touch the top of rim of the throwing circle, but can touch the inside edges of it. The weight of the discus is fixed at 2kg for the men and 1kg for women. What is the weight of the discus and how is it thrown?

The technique also helped him earn a silver medal at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. It should also be noted that Frantisek Janda-Suk, a Czech athlete, was the first modern athlete to throw the discus while rotating the whole body. The discus throw is also part of the modern decathlon. The women's competition was included at Amsterdam 1928. The men's discus throw event then became a part of the Olympics at the very first edition at Athens in 1896. The discipline would be later re-discovered by Christian Georg Kohlrausch and his students in the 1870s.

It was introduced in the ancient Greek pentathlon event - running, long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, and wrestling - and can be dated back to 708 BC. The discus throw, where a competitor hurls a heavy disc, was one of the events at the Ancient Olympics.

Sport discus