On Wednesday evening, 21-year-old Lithuanian discus thrower Mykolas Alekna won a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
On his best attempt, Mykolas Alekna threw the discus 69.97 metres in the final on Wednesday evening and was guaranteed a silver medal. Gold went to Roje Stona of Jamaica (70.00 metres) and bronze to Matthew Denny of Australia (69.31 metres).
Lithuania’s other discus thrower Andrius Gudžius placed 8th in the final on Wednesday.
Mykolas Alekna is the son of Lithuania’s two-time Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna, who won discus throwing gold medals in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In Athens, he also set the Olympic record (69.89 metres), which fell on Wednesday after his son first threw the discus 69.97 metres and later Stona reached 70.00 metres.
Mykolas Alekna became the world record holder this year after he threw the discus 74.35 metres in a competition in the US. He made his Olympic debut in Paris.
This is the third Olympic medal which Lithuanian athletes have won at the Paris Olympics so far. Before, rower Viktorija Senkutė and the men’s 3x3 basketball team won bronze medals.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
