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Sport	Track and Field
Name	The Discus
Subtitle	An American Specialty
Number	30-06
Info	Discus throwing has always been one of the great American specialties. The world's first record-holder in this event was the American James Duncan who, in 1912, achieved a throw of 47.58 m with a discus weighing 2 kg. Until the 1908 Games in London, the discus weighed only 1.923 kg. The United States figures more than any other nation both in the list of world record-holders and in the Olympic tables. But over the years the occasional breach in a seemingly impenetrable wall of victories has been made by a few outstanding Old World discus throwers: the Finns Armas Taipale and Elmer Nicklander for example, who were Olympic champions in 1912 and 1920 respectively, though neither came near to breaking Duncan's world record; and there was the Italian Adolfo Consolini, Olympic champion in 1948 and three times world record-holder; and nearer our own time, there has been the Russian Vladimir Trusseniev. Finally, there was also the Czech Ludvik Danek, whose name was added to the Olympic honors list in 1972 in succession to that of the extraordinary Al Oerter who had won the gold medal four times consecutively between 1956 and 1968 - a unique feat. CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD RECORD 47.58 m J. Duncan USA 47.61 m T. Lieb USA 47.89 m G. Hartranft USA 48.20 m C. Houser USA 49.90 m E. Krenz USA 51.03 m E. Krenz USA 51.73 m P. Jessup USA 52.42 m H. Andersson SWE 53.10 m W. Schroeder GER 53.26 m A. Harris USA 53.34 m A. Consolini ITA 54.23 m A. Consolini ITA 54.93 m R. Fitch USA 55.33 m A. Consolini ITA 56.46 m F. Gordien USA 56.97 m F. Gordien USA 57.93 m S. Iness USA 58.10 m F. Gordien USA 59.28 m F. Gordien USA 59.91 m R. Babka USA 60.56 m J. Silvester USA 60.72 m J. Silvester USA 61.10 m A. Oerter USA 61.64 m V. Trusseniev USSR 62.45 m A. Oerter USA 62.62 m A. Oerter USA 62.94 m A. Oerter USA 64.55 m L. Danek CZE 65.22 m L. Danek CZE 66.54 m J. Silvester USA 68.40 m J. Silvester USA 68.40 m R. Bruck SWE 68.48 m J. van Reenen SAF 69.08 m J. Powell USA 69.16 m M. Wilkins USA 70.86 m M. Wilkins USA 5.27.1912 9. 4.1924 5. 2.1925 4. 3.1926 3. 9.1929 5.17.1930 8.23.1930 8.25.1934 4.28.1935 6.20.1941 10.26.1941 4.14.1946 6. 8.1946 10.10.1948 7. 9.1949 8.14.1949 6.20.1953 7.11.1953 8.22.1953 8.12.1960 8.11.1961 8.20.1961 5.18.1962 6. 4.1962 7. 1.1962 4.27.1963 4.25.1964 8. 2.1964 10.12.1965 5.25.1968 9.18.1968 7. 5.1972 3.14.1975 5. 4.1975 4.24.1976 5. 1.1976
Photo Info	Latest star of the American school: Mac Wilkins who broke the 70-m barrier
Copyright	© 1978, Editions Rencontre S.A., Lausanne Photo Werek Printed in Italy 03 005 30-06