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1896 Olympic Games Athina, Greece - Men's Discus Throw

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1896 Olympic Games Athina, Greece - (Athletics); Last Updated: 25 March 2016; Hits: 608

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Host City: Athina, Greece	Format: Final only.
Date Started: April 6, 1896
Date Finished: April 6, 1896
(Competitors: 9; Countries: 6)
		Venue(s): Panathenaic Stadium, Athina
Overview by IAAF
Garrett had practised in the USA with an implement weighing some 20 pounds (9Kg), so the regulation 2kg discus seemed easy to throw in comparison. Nevertheless the American only won with his fifth throw, just edging out Paraskevopoulos, who had successively thrown 28.51, 28.88, and 28.955; all world bests with the 2kg event in its infancy. With the heritage of the event very much rooted in ancient Greece, this was a particularly difficult loss for the host country to accept.

Summary by Sports-reference.com
The discus throw was held on the first day of athletics competition, 6 April 1896. It was the first time the discus was ever contested at a major athletics meeting. There were nine competitors who took three throws from a 2.50 metres square, with the top three receiving an additional two efforts. The Greeks felt that they had an unbeatable thrower in Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos, but he was beaten by Bob Garrett (USA) on Garrett's fifth, and last, attempt of 29.15 metres. Part of Paraskevopoulos' problem was that he attempted to strike poses reminiscent of the ancient Greek statues of )diskoboloi). Paraskevopoulos threw 28.955 metres while Greece's Sotirios Versis finished third with 28.78 metres.
Garrett was a Princeton student who initially was not going to compete in the discus throw. He had heard of the event from his history professor at Princeton, William Sloane, the first IOC Member in the United States. Sloane had a discus made for Garrett and it weighed about 10 kilograms. Garrett's efforts reflected the enormous weight of the implement and which greatly discouraged him. Upon arriving in Athens, he saw that the real discus weighed only two kilograms, so he changed his mind and elected to compete.

		Results
The men's discus throw was one of two throwing events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The discus throw was the fourth event held. It was contested on 6 April. 11 athletes competed, including one each from France, Sweden, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany as well as three Greeks and three Danes. Many of the competitors had never thrown a discus before, as the event had never been held at an international competition. Robert Garrett of the United States was the last foreigner in the competition, and eventually defeated the famed Greek competitors to win the second modern Olympic gold medal.
*Discus Throw*	Men	Final	6 April
Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	29.150	Bob Garrett	United States	USA	20	WR
2	28.955	Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos	Greece	GRE		WR
3	27.780	Sotirios Versis	Greece	GRE
4	25.200	George Stuart Robertson	Great Britain	GBR	23
AC		Henrik Sjöberg	Sweden	SWE	21
AC		Georgios Papasideris	Greece	GRE
AC		Holger Nielsen	Denmark	DEN	29
AC		Viggo Jensen	Denmark	DEN	21
AC		Alphonse Grisel	France	FRA

Results by Wikipedia

Place	Athlete	Distance	1	2	3	4	5
1	Robert Garrett (USA)	29.15 m	27.53	X	Unknown	28.72	29.15
2	Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos (GRE)	28.95 m	28.51	Unknown		28.88	28.95
3	Sotirios Versis (GRE)	27.78 m	Unknown
4	George S. Robertson (GBR)	25.20 m	Unknown			Did not advance
5-11	Alphonse Grisel (FRA)	Unknown	Unknown
	Viggo Jensen (DEN)	Unknown	Unknown
	Holger Nielsen (DEN)	Unknown	Unknown
	Georgios Papasideris (GRE)	Unknown	Unknown
	Henrik Sjöberg (SWE)	Unknown	Unknown
	Unknown Competitor Name (DEN)	Unknown	Unknown
	Unknown Competitor Name (GER)	Unknown	Unknown

Medalists

Robert Garrett

Personal information

Born

May 24, 1875
Baltimore County, Maryland

Died

April 25, 1961 (aged 85)
Baltimore, Maryland

Height

1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

81 kg (179 lb; 12.8 st)

Sport

Country

United States

Sport

Athletics

Medal record[hide]

Men's athletics
Competitor for the United States
Olympic Games
	1896 Athens	Shot put
	1896 Athens	Discus throw
	1896 Athens	High jump
	1896 Athens	Long jump
	1900 Paris	Shot put
	1900 Paris	Standing triple jump

Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos
Medal record
Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos
Men's athletics Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos (Greek: Παναγιώτης Παρασκευόπουλος, 1875 –8 July 1956) was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was born in Gortynia and died in Corfu. Paraskevopoulos competed in the discus throw, an event which the Greek public felt that a Greek athlete was sure to win. Indeed, when Paraskevopoulos threw the discus 28.95 metres, it seemed as if he had won the event. The only athlete left to throw was Robert Garrett of the United States, who had been unable to throw the discus any distance in his first two throws. Garrett's final attempt, however, was a good one and sailed to 29.15 metres, relegating Paraskevopoulos to second place. He also participated at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris in the shot put event finishing 5th and in the discus throw event finishing 4th.
Competitor for Greece
Olympic Games
	1896 Athens	Discus throw

Sotirios Versis

Sotirios Versis, 1897.

Olympic medal record
Men's athletics Sotirios Versis (Greek: Σωτήριος Βερσής, 1879 – 1918) was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Versis competed in the discus throw. He placed third behind American Robert Garrett and fellow Greek Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos. Versis's best throw was 27.78 metres. In weightlifting, Versis placed third in the two-handed clean and jerk event after raising 90.0 kilograms. He placed fourth in the one-handed snatch competition, lifting 40.0 kilograms.
Competitor for Greece
	1896 Athens	Discus throw
Men's weightlifting
	1896 Athens	Two hand lift