Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's discus throw explained

Event:Women's discus throw
Games:1972 Summer
Venue:Olympic Stadium
Dates:September 9 & September 10
Competitors:17
Nations:10
Win Value:66.62
Win Label:Winning throw
Longnames:yes
Gold:Faina Melnik
Goldnoc:URS
Silver:Argentina Menis
Silvernoc:ROU
Bronze:Vasilka Stoeva
Bronzenoc:BUL
Prev:1968
Next:1976

The women's discus throw field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 9 & September 10.[1] Armenia Soviet Faina Melnik was the strong favorite to win the gold. She has broken the world record five times since 1971 as well as being the European Champion in the same year. But twice in 1972 she had been beaten by Romanian Argentina Menis. Menis took the lead in round one breaking the Olympic record throw of . In the start of the fourth round Menis lead with Melnik in fifth. Menis then improved her distance to . Melnike threw next and overtook Menis with a throw of which held on to win the gold. Thirteen days later, Menis broke Melnik's world record with a throw of .[2]

Records

Standing records prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics
66.76 mJuly 4, 1972  Moscow, Soviet Union
58.28 mOctober 18, 1968  Mexico City, Mexico
Broken records during the 1972 Summer Olympics
66.62 mSeptember 10, 1972  Munich, West Germany

Results

All throwers reaching and the top 12 including ties, advanced to the finals. All qualifiers are shown in blue. All distances are listed in metres.

Qualifying

Rank Name Nationality Mark 1st throw 2nd throw 3rd throw
1 61.58
OR
61.58 p p
2 61.26 53.00 61.26 p
3 60.34 60.34 p p
4 59.80 59.80 p p
5 58.26 58.26 p p
6 57.82 x 57.82 p
7 56.90 54.74 56.90 p
8 56.42 54.52 56.42 p
9 55.88 55.88 p p
10 55.56 x 53.56 55.56
11 55.26 x 55.26 p
12 55.24 55.24 p p
13 53.29 51.08 x 53.29
14 53.86 x x 53.86
15 52.52 x 47.42 52.52
16 51.58 51.58 x 50.76
17 49.62 49.62 x x
DNS
DNS
DNS

Final

Rank Name Nationality Mark 1st throw 2nd throw 3rd throw 4th throw 5th throw 6th throw
66.62
OR
60.56 61.32 57.96 66.62
OR
62.76 x
65.06 64.28
OR
59.82 60.88 65.06
OR
63.78 64.90
64.3461.08 x 64.20 62.24 64.34 62.10
4 62.86 62.64
OR
58.14 62.86 61.14 x x
5 62.18x 57.04 62.18 61.66 x x
6 61.72 57.52 59.14 60.12 61.08 61.72 60.22
7 60.42 57.78 58.76 57.06 59.08 x 60.42
8 59.00 57.52 57.92 59.00 x 58.86 57.20
9 58.5058.18 58.50 x
10 56.7256.50 56.72 x
11 56.58 55.60 x 56.58
12 56.50 56.50 x 52.26

Key: OR = Olympic record; p = pass; x = fault; NM = no mark

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Athletics at the 1972 Munich City Summer Games: Women's Discus Throw . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174228/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/ATH/womens-discus-throw.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 13 January 2018 . sports-reference.com.
  2. Web site: Athletics at the 1972 München Summer Games: Women's Discus Throw . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174228/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/ATH/womens-discus-throw.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 4 January 2012 . Sports Reference.