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1976 Olympic Games Montreal - Men's Discus Throw

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1976 Olympic Games Montreal - (Athletics); Last Updated: 30 July 2016; Hits: 1271

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Host City: Montréal, Canada

Format: Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 60.00 metres advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 24, 1976

Date Finished: July 25, 1976

(Competitors: 30; Countries: 20; Finalists: 15)

Venue(s): Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, Montréal, Québec

Overview by IAAF

Mac Wilkins boomed his first throw in the qualifying round out to 68.28, the furthest ever seen in major competition. He was already the favourite, having broken the world record three times in one day in May. The one threat to him was considered to be Wolfgang Schmidt. The young East German led in the first round with a relatively modest 63.68. John Powell, a former world record holder, threw 64.24, but Wilkins then took control with 67.50. Powell, with 65.70, and Schmidt (65.16) both improved in the third round, and there the top three positions stayed until the last round. With his final throw, Schmidt took great care in the circle, launching the disk out to 66.22 to win the silver medal and hearty congratulations from Wilkins, whose relationship with the German was much warmer than with Powell. Silvester made the top eight in his fourth Olympics at the age of 38.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

In 1975, John Powell had broken the world record. He seemed to have a shot at gold in 1976, but then Mac Wilkins broke the record four times in early 1976, including three times in one meet in May 1976 in San José. His second record that day was the first throw ever over 70 metres. His only threat seemed to be East Germany’s Wolfgang Schmidt. Wilkins and Powell were not friends, while Wilkins and Schmidt were, which seemed incongruous but was true. In round two of the final, Willkins threw 67.50 (221-5½), which was his best mark of the competition and would win the gold medal. Powell was second with 65.70 (215-6¾) going into the final round. Then Schmidt unleashed 66.22 (217-3½) to move to the silver medal spot. Schmidt received a hug and handshake from Wilkins, which offended some American fans, as Schmidt, and East German, has just moved another America, Powell, down to a bronze medal. Schmidt was not a typical East German. He criticized his country’s Communist government and in 1982 was imprisoned for his behavior and his frequent association with Western athletes. He would be repatriated a bit and returned to competition after the fall of the Berlin Wall, finishing fourth at the 1991 World Championships.

Records

Standing records prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics
World Record	Mac Wilkins (USA)	70.86 m	May 1, 1976	San Jose, California, United States
Olympic Record	Al Oerter (USA)	64.78 m	October 15, 1968	Mexico City, Mexico

		Results

*Discus Throw*	Men	Final	25 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	67.50	Mac Wilkins	United States	USA	15 Nov 50
2	66.22	Wolfgang Schmidt	East Germany	GDR	16 Jan 54
3	65.70	John Powell	United States	USA	25 Jun 47
4	64.30	Norbert Thiede	East Germany	GDR	3 Apr 49
5	64.24	Siegfried Pachale	East Germany	GDR	24 Oct 49
6	63.12	Pentti Kahma	Finland	FIN	3 Dec 43
7	63.06	Knut Hjeltnes	Norway	NOR	8 Dec 51
8	61.98	Jay Silvester	United States	USA	27 Aug 37
9	61.28	Ludvík Danek	Czechoslovakia	TCH	6 Jan 37
10	60.94	Velko Velev	Bulgaria	BUL	4 Jan 48
11	60.54	Ferenc Tégla	Hungary	HUN	15 Jul 47
12	60.46	Hein-Direck Neu	West Germany	FRG	13 Feb 44
13	58.42	Josef Silhavý	Czechoslovakia	TCH	17 Dec 46
14	57.48	János Faragó	Hungary	HUN	8 Jul 46
15	55.86	Armando De Vincentis	Italy	ITA	11 Oct 43
*Discus Throw*	Men	Qualification	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	68.28	Mac Wilkins	United States	USA	15 Nov 50
2	63.54	Velko Velev	Bulgaria	BUL	4 Jan 48
3	63.14	Wolfgang Schmidt	East Germany	GDR	16 Jan 54
4	62.26	Armando De Vincentis	Italy	ITA	11 Oct 43
5	62.10	Pentti Kahma	Finland	FIN	3 Dec 43
6	62.06	Jay Silvester	United States	USA	27 Aug 37
7	61.88	Hein-Direck Neu	West Germany	FRG	13 Feb 44
8	61.66	Ferenc Tégla	Hungary	HUN	15 Jul 47
9	61.48	John Powell	United States	USA	25 Jun 47
10	61.30	Knut Hjeltnes	Norway	NOR	8 Dec 51
11	61.14	Norbert Thiede	East Germany	GDR	3 Apr 49
12	60.82	Josef Silhavý	Czechoslovakia	TCH	17 Dec 46
13	60.64	Siegfried Pachale	East Germany	GDR	24 Oct 49
14	60.44	Ludvík Danek	Czechoslovakia	TCH	6 Jan 37
15	60.06	János Faragó	Hungary	HUN	8 Jul 46
16	59.92	Julián Morrison	Cuba	CUB	27 Jul 51
17	59.80	Markku Tuokko	Finland	FIN	24 Jun 51
18	59.42	Stanislaw Wolodko	Poland	POL	20 Mar 50
19	59.06	Silvano Simeon	Italy	ITA	27 Oct 45
20	58.06	Ricky Bruch	Sweden	SWE	2 Jul 46
21	57.50	Nikolay Vikhor	Soviet Union	URS	10 Mar 54
22	57.28	Iosif Nagy	Romania	ROU	20 Nov 46
23	56.56	Ainsley Roost	Canada	CAN	12 May 46
24	55.86	Borys Chambul	Canada	CAN	17 Feb 53
25	55.50	Peter Tancred	Great Britain	GBR	20 Oct 49
26	54.80	Georges Schroeder	Belgium	BEL	17 Feb 50
27	52.82	Ibrahima Gueye	Senegal	SEN	7 Sep 41
28	52.40	Salman Hashem	Iran	IRI	30 Nov 47
29	35.94	Mahmoud Al-Zabramawi	Saudi Arabia	KSA	6 Feb 48
	NM	Bishop Dolegiewicz	Canada	CAN	8 Jul 53

Detailed View

Qualification

Group A

Group B

Rank	Overall	Athlete	Attempts			Result	Note
Rank	Overall	Athlete	1	2	3	Result	Note
1	1	Mac Wilkins (USA)	68.28	—	—	68.28 m	OR
2	2	Velko Velev (BUL)	63.54	—	—	63.54 m
3	3	Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)	63.14	—	—	63.14 m
4	5	Pentti Kahma (FIN)	62.10	—	—	62.10 m
5	6	Jay Silvester (USA)	X	62.06	—	62.06 m
6	7	Hein-Direck Neu (FRG)	X	58.90	61.88	61.88 m
7	9	John Powell (USA)	X	61.48	—	61.48 m
8	11	Norbert Thiede (GDR)	61.14	—	—	61.14 m
9	13	Siegfried Pachale (GDR)	X	60.64	—	60.64 m
10	14	Ludvík Daněk (TCH)	60.44	—	—	60.44 m
11	17	Markku Tuokko (FIN)	59.80	59.26	57.18	59.80 m
12	19	Silvano Simeon (ITA)	58.76	59.06	X	59.06 m
13	20	Ricky Bruch (SWE)	56.98	X	58.06	58.06 m
14	21	Nikolay Vikhor (URS)	X	57.50	54.52	57.50 m
—	—	Bishop Dolegiewicz (CAN)	X	X	X	NM
Rank	Overall	Athlete	Attempts			Result	Note
Rank	Overall	Athlete	1	2	3	Result	Note
1	4	Armando De Vincentiis (ITA)	62.26	—	—	62.26 m
2	8	Ferenc Tégla (HUN)	57.00	61.66	—	61.66 m
3	10	Knut Hjeltnes (NOR)	X	61.30	—	61.30 m
4	12	Josef Šilhavý (TCH)	60.82	—	—	60.82 m
5	15	János Faragó (HUN)	59.30	60.06	—	60.06 m
6	16	Julián Morrinson (CUB)	59.92	56.66	58.50	59.92 m
7	18	Stanisław Wołodko (POL)	57.56	57.84	59.42	59.42 m
8	22	Iosif Naghi (ROM)	X	X	57.28	57.28 m
9	23	Ain Roost (CAN)	56.56	X	X	56.56 m
10	24	Borys Chambul (CAN)	X	55.86	X	55.86 m
11	25	Pete Tancred (GBR)	55.20	X	55.50	55.50 m
12	26	Jos Schroeder (BEL)	X	54.04	54.80	54.80 m
13	27	Ibrahima Guèye (SEN)	52.82	X	52.76	52.82 m
14	28	Salman Hessem (IRI)	52.40	50.40	X	52.40 m
15	29	Mahmoud Al-Zubramawi (KSA)	31.80	35.30	35.94	35.94 m

Final

Rank	Athlete	Attempts						Result	Note
Rank	Athlete	1	2	3	4	5	6	Result	Note
	Mac Wilkins (USA)	61.78	67.50	63.44	63.52	X	66.14	67.50 m
	Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)	63.68	X	65.16	X	63.96	66.22	66.22 m
	John Powell (USA)	62.48	64.24	65.70	60.48	60.20	64.24	65.70 m
4	Norbert Thiede (GDR)	62.40	61.66	61.98	63.02	64.30	63.04	64.30 m
5	Siegfried Pachale (GDR)	59.62	64.04	60.02	61.08	59.62	64.24	64.24 m
6	Pentti Kahma (FIN)	63.12	61.22	X	X	X	61.94	63.12 m
7	Knut Hjeltnes (NOR)	60.26	62.02	61.60	61.26	61.24	63.06	63.06 m
8	Jay Silvester (USA)	61.60	X	X	X	61.98	X	61.98 m

9	Ludvík Daněk (TCH)	60.12	61.28	59.62				61.28 m
10	Velko Velev (BUL)	60.94	60.68	X				60.94 m
11	Ferenc Tégla (HUN)	57.44	57.00	60.54				60.54 m
12	Hein-Direck Neu (FRG)	59.44	60.26	60.46				60.46 m
13	Josef Šilhavý (TCH)	57.62	58.42	X				58.42 m
14	János Faragó (HUN)	57.48	57.30	X				57.48 m
15	Armando De Vincentiis (ITA)	55.86	X	X				55.68 m