![]() This was the 29th appearance of the event, making it one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Not only was it Sweden's first 1–2 finish in the discus, they were the only Swedish medals in the event other than Ricky Bruch's 1972 bronze. Denny would throw a personal best 67.02 metres in the final round, but not enough to get on the medal stand. In the third, Weißhaidinger would improve to his best of the day 67.07 metres but that couldn't withstand Pettersson's fifth round best of 67.39 metres. It turned out to be his only throw of the day good enough to win. ![]() The next thrower was his Swedish teammate Daniel Ståhl who launched the winner 68.90 m (226 ft 1⁄ 2 in). Shortly afterward, Simon Pettersson almost matched it with a 66.58 metres of his own. After almost fouling out of the qualifying round Lukas Weißhaidinger started the second round with a 66.65 metres to take the lead. Germany’s Daniel Jasinski, the 2016 bronze medallist, was 10th with 62.44m.Matthew Denny took the early lead with a 65.76 metres in the first round. Mauricio Ortega, the first Olympic finalist in the event from Colombia, was seventh with 64.08m. That secured the bronze for Weisshaidinger, the first-ever Olympic medal in athletics from an Austrian man.Īfter Stahl and Pettersson concluded a 50-metre backstraight victory dash, Weissheidinger, wrapped in his national flag, knelt next to the throwing circle to kiss the ring.įurther back, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius finished sixth with 64.11m. Ceh, throwing next, couldn’t respond, reaching 66.37m to take fifth in his first Olympic Games. Pettersson bounced back brilliantly, unleashing a 67.39m throw to move into second, giving Sweden a firm hold on positions one and two.īehind him and Weisshaidinger, Denny kept up the pressure, improving his lifetime best in the final round to 67.02m to finish fourth, just five centimetres back. He continued to improve, throwing 66.62m to overtake Pettersson for the bronze medal position by just four centimetres.īut the 22-year-old’s podium ambitions were short-lived. He was a calm figure when he returned to the circle to throw first in round four, before unleashing a 66.05m effort to move into fourth. Weisshaidinger remained consistent, improving to 67.07m in the third round and throwing nearly as far – 66.86m – in the fourth.įurther back, pre-Games medal favourite Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia struggled early, fouling on his first attempt, reaching just 62.95m with his second and foot fouling his third after a mediocre throw, but stayed alive after sitting in eighth position after the first three rounds. But it wasn’t long before Stahl wrestled the lead away with his winning toss just a few minutes later, turning the competition into a battle for minor medals. Matt Denny of Australia opened with a 65.76m throw to lead after the opening round, but was overtaken by Weisshaidinger who opened the second round with a 66.65m effort. ![]() ![]() “I am also very proud of our coach (Vesteinn Hafsteinsson) for believing in us, and having faith." “My training partner Simon has been working hard,” Stahl said. Stahl lost just twice in 19 competitions in 2020 and just once in 13 competitions this year. Stahl didn’t reach the final in Rio five years ago, but improved his consistency markedly each year since, taking world silver in 2017 and European silver in 2018 before taking the world title in 2019. “There was a lot of hard work and fun on the way,” said Stahl, who has led the world in the event each year since 2016. Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria gave him a scare early on with a 67.07m throw in the third round but his biggest challenge ultimately came from compatriot and training partner Simon Pettersson who unleashed a 67.39m effort in the fifth round to secure an unlikely gold and silver finish for Sweden – and their first two Olympic medals ever in the event. The 28-year-old Swede took command with a second-round launch of 68.90m, the fourth farthest throw in Olympic history. Daniel Stahl continued his dominance of the men’s discus with a convincing victory at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday (31) to capture the first field event title at the Tokyo 2020 Games in what was also the 1000th athletics final in Olympic history.
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