Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

Men's discus throw at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Date	October 14–15
Competitors	27 from 19 nations
Winning distance	64.78 OR
Medalists
Al Oerter  United States Lothar Milde  East Germany Ludvík Daněk  Czechoslovakia

Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The Men's discus throw competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 14–15.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. 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.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Jay Silvester (USA)	68.40 m	Reno, United States	September 18, 1968
Olympic record	Al Oerter (USA)	61.00 m	Tokyo, Japan	October 15, 1964

Results

Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 58.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
1	A	Jay Silvester	United States	63.34	–	–	63.34
2	A	Hartmut Losch	East Germany	60.40	–	–	60.40
3	A	Gary Carlsen	United States	60.36	–	–	60.36
3	A	Lothar Milde	East Germany	60.36	–	–	60.36
5	A	Günter Schaumburg	East Germany	60.14	–	–	60.14
6	A	Al Oerter	United States	59.36	–	–	59.36
7	A	Ludvík Daněk	Czechoslovakia	59.36	58.10	56.42	59.36
8	A	Ricky Bruch	Sweden	59.08	–	–	59.08
9	B	Robin Tait	New Zealand	58.88	–	–	58.88
10	A	Hein-Direck Neu	West Germany	X	55.26	58.56	58.56
11	A	Ferenc Tégla	Hungary	57.18	58.50	–	58.50
12	A	Edmund Piątkowski	Poland	58.24	–	–	58.24
13	A	Guram Gudashvili	Soviet Union	57.48	55.84	X	57.48
14	A	George Puce	Canada	57.34	X	X	57.34
15	B	Namakoro Niaré	Mali	X	54.92	56.60	56.60
16	B	János Faragó	Hungary	54.98	56.00	X	56.00
17	B	Denis Ségui Kragbé	Ivory Coast	55.24	54.24	X	55.24
18	B	Lech Gajdziński	Poland	54.92	X	X	54.92
19	A	Jens Reimers	West Germany	53.18	X	54.02	54.02
20	B	Joe Kashmiri	Iran	53.00	53.96	53.30	53.96
21	B	Klaus-Peter Hennig	West Germany	53.80	X	X	53.80
22	B	Heimo Reinitzer	Austria	51.90	52.00	53.52	53.52
23	B	Modesto Mederos	Cuba	52.30	X	49.42	52.30
24	B	Bill Tancred	Great Britain	X	48.86	51.74	51.74
25	B	Edy Hubacher	Switzerland	X	49.80	51.70	51.70
26	B	Rolando Mendoza	Nicaragua	39.62	36.46	38.78	39.62
27	B	Mauricio Jubis	El Salvador	33.62	35.94	36.18	36.18

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	Result	Notes
	Al Oerter	United States	61.78	X	64.78	62.42	64.74	64.04	64.78	OR
	Lothar Milde	East Germany	62.44	63.08	62.58	59.98	60.24	58.00	63.08
	Ludvík Daněk	Czechoslovakia	60.62	X	62.92	X	61.28	61.34	62.92
4	Hartmut Losch	East Germany	62.12	61.68	60.34	59.48	58.94	59.50	62.12
5	Jay Silvester	United States	61.10	61.78	X	X	X	60.44	61.78
6	Gary Carlsen	United States	58.62	59.26	59.46	59.30	52.60	58.54	59.46
7	Edmund Piątkowski	Poland	59.40	58.46	57.66	57.52	X	58.72	59.40
8	Ricky Bruch	Sweden	58.94	58.02	58.12	59.28	58.50	58.34	59.28
9	Hein-Direck Neu	West Germany	55.96	X	58.66	N/A			58.66
10	Günter Schaumburg	East Germany	56.64	57.70	58.62	N/A			58.62
11	Ferenc Tégla	Hungary	56.74	58.36	57.78	N/A			58.36
12	Robin Tait	New Zealand	56.52	57.68	56.84	N/A			57.68

References

• Official Olympic Report, la84foundation.org. Retrieved August 13, 2012.