Discus throw at the World Athletics Championships

The discus throw at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. The competition format typically has one qualifying round contested by two groups of athletes, with all those clearing the qualifying height or placing in top twelve overall advancing to the final round.

Germany is the most successful nation in the event, with a total of 22 medals, 11 of them gold. Additionally, East Germany won 4 medals (including 3 golds) between 1983 and 1987. Cuba is the second-most successful nation, with 9 medals total, 2 of them gold. 7 of these medals were won by women. They could be seen as a counterpart to Lithuania, as all of their 8 medals in the event were won by men.

Lars Riedel is the most successful athlete in the event, winning 5 gold medals and one bronze medal between 1991 and 2001. His 5 gold medals are the second-most for any athlete in a single individual event, a feat only bettered by Sergey Bubka in the pole vault. Franka Dietzsch is the most successful woman in the event, with three gold medals. Robert Harting is the only other athlete that has won more than two gold medals in the event. is the most decorated female athlete, with 5 medals in total.

The championship records for the event are 71.46 m for men, set by Daniel Ståhl in 2023, and 71.62 m for women, set by Martina Hellmann in 1987.

The reigning world champions are Daniel Ståhl from Sweden and Laulauga Tausaga from the United States.

Age records

All information from World Athletics.

DistinctionMaleFemaleAthleteAgeDateAthleteAgeDateYoungest champion23 years, 152 days19 Jul 202221 years, 87 days21 Aug 2009Youngest medalist19 years, 304 days19 Jul 202221 years, 87 days21 Aug 2009Youngest finalist19 years, 304 days19 Jul 202218 years, 156 days31 Aug 1987Youngest participant18 years, 232 days8 Aug 199716 years, 304 days7 Aug 1997Oldest champion34 years, 41 days8 Aug 200140 years, 268 days11 Aug 2001Oldest medalist40 years, 71 days4 Sep 198740 years, 268 days11 Aug 2001Oldest finalist40 years, 71 days4 Sep 198744 years, 35 days22 Aug 2023Oldest participant41 years, 180 days12 Aug 201348 years, 276 days19 Aug 2009

Medalists

Men

Multiple medalists Rank Athlete Nation PeriodGoldSilverBronze Total 1 1991–2001 5 0 1 6 2 2007–2013 3 1 0 4 2017–2025 3 1 0 4 4 1997–2005 2 2 0 4 5 2005–2013 1 2 2 5 6 2009–2015 1 2 0 3 7 1987–1997 1 1 2 48Kristjan Čeh2022-202311029Andrius Gudžius2017-2022101210Mykolas Alekna2022-20250213 11 1983–1987 0 1 1 2 12 1995–2003 0 0 2 2 2001–2005 0 0 2 2

Medals by country Rank NationGoldSilverBronze Total 1 8 2 5 15 2 3 4 2 933104 4 1 2 2 5 5 1 2 1 4 6 1 1 1 3 7 1 1 0 2 8 1 0 1 2 9 1 0 0 1 10 0 1 2 3 11 0 1 1 201120112 12 0 1 0 10101010101011300110011

Women

Multiple medalists Rank Athlete Nation PeriodGoldSilverBronze Total 1 1999–2007 3 0 0 3 2 2013–2022 2 2 1 5 3 1995–2001 2 1 0 3 4 1983–1987 2 0 0 25Valarie Allman2022-202511136Dani Stevens2009-20171102Denia Caballero2015-20191102 8 1987–1991 1 0 1 2 1993–1995 1 0 1 2Feng Bin2022-20231012 11 2007–2013 0 2 2 4 12 1999–2003 0 2 1 3 13 1991–1995 0 2 0 2 14 1999–2009 0 1 3 4 15 1997–2005 0 1 1 2 2011–2015 0 1 1 2Mélina Robert-Michon2013-20170112

Medals by country Rank NationGoldSilverBronze Total 1 3 3 1 7 2 3 1 0 4 3 2 3 3 8 4 2 2 1 552114 6 2 1 0 372024 8 1 2 0 3 9 1 1 2 4 10 1 0 2 3 11 1 0 0 1 12 0 2 2 4 13 0 1 3 4 14 0 1 1 2 15 0 1 1 2160101 17 0 0 1 1

Championship record progression

Men +Men's discus throw World Championships record progressionMain > Men's discus throw > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2024-10-08.TimeAthleteNationYearRoundDate64.20 mLius Delís1983Qualification1983-08-1365.00 mImrich Bugar1983Qualification1983-08-1367.48 mImrich Bugar1983Final1983-08-1467.72 mImrich Bugar1983Final1983-08-1468.74 mJürgen Schult1987Final1987-09-0468.76 mLars Riedel1995Final1995-08-1169.08 mAnthony Washington1999Final1999-08-2469.72 mLars Riedel2001Final2001-08-0870.17 m2005Final2005-08-0771.13 mKristjan Čeh2022Final2022-07-1971.46 m2023Final2023-08-21

Women +Women's discus throw World Championships record progressionMain > Women's discus throw > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2024-10-08.TimeAthleteNationYearRoundDate65.84 mMaria Petkova1983Qualification1983-08-0966.42 mMartina Hellmann1983Final1983-08-1066.44 mMaria Petkova1983Final1983-08-1067.76 mMartina Hellmann1983Final1983-08-1068.74 mMartina Hellmann1983Final1983-08-1071.62 mMartina Hellmann1987Final1987-08-31

Best performances

Top ten furthest World Championship throws1

+ Furthest men's throws at the World ChampionshipsRankDistance (m)AthleteNationYearDate 1 71.46 m Daniel Ståhl 2023 2023-08-21 2 71.11 m Kristjan Čeh 2022 2022-07-19 3 70.47 m Daniel Ståhl 2025 2025-09-21 4 70.17 m Virgilijus Alekna 2005 2005-08-07 5 70.02 m Kristjan Čeh 2023 2023-08-21 6 69.90 m Daniel Ståhl 2025Q 2025-09-20 7 69.72 m Lars Riedel 2001 2001-08-07 8 69.69 m Virgilijus Alekna 2003 2003-08-26 9 69.41 m Robert Harting 2009 2009-08-19 10 69.40 m Virgilijus Alekna 2001 2001-08-07

+ Furthest women's throws at the World ChampionshipsRankDistance (m)AthleteNationYearDate 1 71.62 m Martina Hellmann 1987 1987-08-31 2 71.02 m Tsvetanka Khristova 1991 1991-08-31 3 70.31 m Sandra Perković 2017 2017-08-13 4 70.12 m Diana Gansky 1987 1987-08-31 5 69.67 m Sandra Perković 2017Q 2017-08-11 6 69.64 m Dani Stevens 2017 2017-08-13 7 69.49 m Laulauga Tausaga 2023 2023-08-22 8 69.48 m Valarie Allman 2025 2025-09-14 9 69.28 m Denia Caballero 2015 2015-08-25 10 69.23 m Valarie Allman 2023 2023-08-22

1Does not include ancillary marks.

See also

Discus throw Discus throw at the Olympics

References

Bibliography

External links Official World Athletics website