| Jürgen Schult | |
| Birth Date: | 11 May 1960[1] |
| Birth Place: | Neuhaus, Hagenow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany |
| Height: | 193cm (76inches) |
| Weight: | 110kg (240lb) |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | Discus throw |
| Club: | Schweriner SC SC Riesa |
| Pb: | 74.08 m (1986) |
| Updated: | 16 June 2015 |
Jürgen Schult (pronounced as /de/, ; born 11 May 1960) is a German former track and field athlete and, from 1986 until 2024, the world record holder in the discus throw. Schult represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic discus competition, where he won the gold medal.
Born in Amt Neuhaus, now in Lower Saxony, Schult was unable to compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to his country's boycott of the games.
He set a world record in the discus in 1986. As an athlete under the East German program, his throw of 74.08meters bested the previous record of Soviet athlete, Yuriy Dumchev, of 71.86meters. This discus world record was one of the longest-standing men's world records ever (having surpassed the length of Jesse Owens' long jump record, which stood for 25 years and 79 days) [2] but eventually fell 37 years and 9 months later to Mykolas Alekna throwing 74.35meters.
In 1988, at the first ever track and field competition between East and West Germany, Schult refused to shake hands with his former teammate, Wolfgang Schmidt, after beating him; Schmidt had very shortly before moved from East to West Germany.
Later in his long sports career, Schult joined the reunified German team. He competed in a second Olympic Games in 1992, getting a silver medal, and the 1999 World Championships, again getting second place. He competed in his final Olympics in 2000 at the age of 40, finishing in eighth place.
Schult has a degree in sport, and in 2002 became the trainer of the German track and field association's men's discus team.
Schult represented the Traktor Schwerin sports club and trained with Dr. Hermann Brandt, later he represented the Schwerin and Riesa sports clubs and trained with Thomas Schult. While he was actively competing, he was 1.93 meters tall and weighed 110 kilograms.
| Representing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | European Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 56.18 m |
| 1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 5th | 64.92 m | |
| 1986 | European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | 7th | 64.38 m | |
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 68.74 m |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 68.82 m |
| 1990 | European Championships | Split, Yugoslavia | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 64.58 m |
| Representing | |||||
| 1991 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 6th | 63.12 m | |
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 64.94 m |
| 1993 | World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 66.12 m | |
| 1994 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 3rd | 64.18 m | |
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 5th | 64.44 m | |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 6th | 64.62 m | |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 3rd | 66.14 m | |
| 1998 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 66.69 m |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 68.18 m |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 8th | 64.41 m | |