Mykolas Alekna’s discus throw silver at the Paris Olympics is the stuff of sports history. In his Olympic debut, the 21-year-old broke the Olympic record – achieved by none other than his father – that had stood for two decades, only to be dethroned twenty minutes later.
Alekna’s best attempt in Paris was 69.97m. It was better than Virgilijus Alekna’s record set at the 2004 Athens Games, but it was Jamaica’s Roje Stona who threw the discus 70m in his best attempt and finally won gold and became the new Olympic record-holder.
“It’s really crazy. It’s a nice final, it’s nice to be part of it, I’m happy with the medal, I’m still bringing another medal to Lithuania, so I’m very happy about that, I didn’t win, I’ll do it next time. There is no regret, a medal is a medal,” said Alekna, who came in good spirits to talk to journalists after the nerve-racking competition.
He was leading with his first throw. Slovenia’s Kristjan Čeh’s first swing had set the bar at 67.27m, but Alekna took the challenge, bettering it by more than a metre – 68.55m – and rose to the top of the table. Soon enough, however, another athlete, Australian Matthew Denny, showed how it’s done, clearing 69.31m.
Back on the field for his next throw, Alekna did not let it stand. The discus wobbled, but it kept going. Alekna did what only his dad Virgilijus Alekna had done before – broke the Olympic record with 69.97m.
While Alekna senior’s record of 69.89m stood for 20 years, Mykolas’ record only lasted some 20 minutes – until Jamaican thrower Roja Stona threw the discus exactly 70m on his fourth attempt, bettering Alekna’s result by 3cm.
“I felt I could do better. Maybe you saw it yourself, it was not very good, the discus was shaky. I thought I could do better, but I couldn’t. I had that record, as you said, for 20 minutes. In four years, I hope it will stay mine for longer,” Alekna said about the sequence of crazy throws.
Alekna’s third throw was unsuccessful, the fourth one was 68.88m, and Alekna managed to land the discus at 68.49 m on his fifth attempt.
There was still the last throw to try and snatch gold. The Lithuanian was still in second place when he entered the sector, asked the spectators in the arena for a round of applause, threw the discus and... It landed short of the gold medal.
Stona, the Olympic champion, was not the clear favourite before the final started. His personal best before the Games and his best of the season was 69.05m. Incidentally, he achieved this result in the same place where Alekna set the world record (74.35m). Was Alekna surprised by the Jamaican discus thrower’s performance?
“Definitely a surprise. But he is a very talented discus thrower, there was never any question about that. But the fact that he would shoot like that at the Games, not many people expected it. But this is sport, everything can happen,” said Alekna.
However, the Lithuanian seemed relaxed in the discus throwing sector, posing for the cameras and joking with his coach.
“I’m already in the final, what’s there to be worried about, you have to enjoy it,” Alekna smiled.
The bronze medal in Paris went to Australia’s Denny, who had the best attempt with 69.31m. That would have been enough to win gold at every Olympic Games since 2004. The favourites before the final, Slovenia’s Čeh and Sweden’s Daniel Stahl, finished 4th and 7th respectively.
“This is what the final is like... You can’t draw the line, the results will go up and up with the years,” said Alekna about the future of the discus throw.
His compatriot Andrius Gudžius, who also competed in the final, secured the 8th spot with 66.55m.
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