Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

The men's discus throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Friday, July 12, 1912. Forty-one discus throwers from 15 nation competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2] The event was won by Armas Taipale of Finland, the nation's first medal in the men's discus throw. Richard Byrd took silver and James Duncan took bronze to continue the United States' podium streak at five consecutive Games.

Men's discus throw
at the Games of the V Olympiad
Taipale on the way to win the gold medal.
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DateJuly 12
Competitors41 from 15 nations
Winning time45.21 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Armas Taipale
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Richard Byrd
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) James Duncan
 United States
← 1908
1920 →
Armas Taipale in action.
Silver medalist Richard Byrd.

Background

edit

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning competitors from 1908 included fourth-place finisher Verner Järvinen of Finland, seventh-place finisher György Luntzer of Hungary, eighth-place finisher André Tison of France, and eleventh-place finisher Emil Welz of Germany. Multiple gold medalist Martin Sheridan of the United States had retired in 1911, leaving the competition "wide-open."[3]

Canada, Luxembourg, Russia, and Turkey each made their debut in the men's discus throw. Greece and the United States each made their fifth appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

Competition format

edit

The competition continued to use the single, divided-final format in use since 1896. Each athlete received three throws, with the top three receiving an additional three throws. Ties were broken by an additional throw. The landing area was a 90 degree sector.[4][3]

Records

edit

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record   James Duncan (USA) 47.58 New York, United States 27 May 1912
Olympic record   Martin Sheridan (USA) 40.89 London, Great Britain 16 July 1908

Armas Taipale ended the competition with the new Olympic record at 45.21 metres, with seven men bettering the old record.

Schedule

edit
Date Time Round
Friday, 12 July 1912 Qualifying
Final

Results

edit

No fewer than seven throwers beat the old Olympic record of 40.89 metres, beginning with Duncan and Niklander's first throws. Niklander's was the best of the round. The second throw resulted in Mucks joining those who beat the old record, while Taipale, Byrd, and Duncan beat even the new one, with Taipale's 43.91 metres setting a mark no other thrower would reach. Philbrook and Tronner beat the old record in the third throw, but neither was able to break into the top three. Niklander, after his first throw, was unable to make another legal mark and fell to fourth, where he finished.

In the final, Byrd and Duncan were unable to improve upon their previous marks, throwing shorter in their first throws and scratching in their second and third throws each. Taipale, on the other hand, regardless of the safety of his lead, threw even further in his first and then his third throw, finishing at 45.21 metres, nearly 3 metres ahead of Byrd.

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Armas Taipale   Finland 36.94 43.91 OR X 44.34 OR X 45.21 OR 45.21 OR
  Richard Byrd   United States 37.48 42.32 X 41.09 X 42.32
  James Duncan   United States 41.61 42.28 X 41.33 X 42.28
4 Elmer Niklander   Finland 42.09 OR X Did not advance 42.09
5 Hans Tronner   Austria 39.97 X 41.24 Did not advance 41.24
6 Arlie Mucks   United States 40.54 40.93 X Did not advance 40.93
7 George Philbrook   United States 38.14 38.55 40.92 Did not advance 40.92
8 Emil Magnusson   Sweden 39.91 X Did not advance 39.91
9 Rezsõ Újlaki   Hungary 39.82 X Did not advance 39.82
10 Einar Nilsson   Sweden 37.26 38.77 39.69 Did not advance 39.69
11 Ralph Rose   United States 37.24 38.82 39.65 Did not advance 39.65
12 Emil Muller   United States 37.91 38.69 39.35 Did not advance 39.35
13 Michalis Dorizas   Greece X 39.28 X Did not advance 39.28
14 Duncan Gillis   Canada 39.01 X Did not advance 39.01
15 Verner Järvinen   Finland 34.15 38.60 X Did not advance 38.60
16 Josef Waitzer   Germany 38.44 X Did not advance 38.44
17 František Janda-Suk   Bohemia 32.41 36.83 38.31 Did not advance 38.31
18 Aurelio Lenzi   Italy 35.58 38.19 X Did not advance 38.19
19 Károly Kobulszky   Hungary 37.81 38.15 X Did not advance 38.15
20 Lawrence Whitney   United States 34.87 37.91 X Did not advance 37.91
21 György Luntzer   Hungary 37.88 X Did not advance 37.88
22 Avery Brundage   United States 37.48 37.85 X Did not advance 37.85
23 Gunnar Nilsson   Sweden X 37.44 X Did not advance 37.44
24 Emil Welz   Germany 36.16 37.24 X Did not advance 37.24
25 Samu Fóti   Hungary 35.51 X 36.37 Did not advance 36.37
26 Gunnar Bolander   Sweden X 36.22 X Did not advance 36.22
27 Carl Johan Lind   Sweden X 35.04 36.07 Did not advance 36.07
28 Folke Fleetwood   Sweden 32.09 32.89 35.06 Did not advance 35.06
29 Josef Schäffer   Austria X 34.87 X Did not advance 34.87
30 André Tison   France 34.73 X Did not advance 34.73
31 Marcel Pelletier   Luxembourg 33.73 X Did not advance 33.73
32 Walter Henderson   Great Britain X 33.61 X Did not advance 33.61
33 Mór Kóczán   Hungary 33.30 X Did not advance 33.30
34 Mgirdiç Migiryan   Turkey X 32.98 Did not advance 32.98
35 Nikolay Neklepayev   Russia 32.59 X Did not advance 32.59
36 Charles Lagarde   France 30.76 X 32.35 Did not advance 32.35
37 Henning Möller   Sweden X 32.23 X Did not advance 32.23
38 Miroslav Šustera   Bohemia 31.83 X Did not advance 31.83
39 Ēriks Vanags   Russia X 31.34 X Did not advance 31.34
40 Otto Nilsson   Sweden 31.07 X Did not advance 31.07
41 Paul Willführ   Germany X X Did not advance No mark

There were 32 non-starters.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ Official report, p. 61.
  3. ^ a b "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 1009.

Sources

edit
  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 5 January 2007.