Mykolas Alekna, son of double Olympic discus throw champion Virgilijus Alekna (2000 and 2004), far exceeded the mark of Schult, then East German thrower, whose world record was set on June 6 1986 in Neubrandenburg (Germany). The performance, established during a minor competition, was announced by World athletics on its social networks.
Latest record: July 1983
Mykolas Alekna already has two world medals, silver in Eugene (United States) in 2022 and bronze won in Budapest last summer, and is one of the favorites for the Olympic podium this summer in Paris. Before this competition, his record was 71.00 m, set in April 2023.
The oldest world record in athletics, for men and women combined, has remained the property since July 1983 of the Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova (then Czechoslovak), in 1 min 53 sec 28 over 800 m. Aided by a strong wind according to a video of the throw, Alekna broke the world record at the “Oklahoma Throws Series World invitational”, a minor competition not broadcast on television.
A family record broken
The conditions there seemed perfect: during the first day of competition, the Cuban discobolist Yaime Perez had already impressed on Saturday with a throw of 73.09 m, the farthest since 1989, just over three meters from the world record of the German Gabriele Reinsch (76.80 m in 1988).
Mykolas Alekna, a student at the University of California at Berkeley, broke the family record: his father Virgilijus was the second performer in history (73.88 in 2000) until Sunday, in addition to holding three medals Olympics (gold in 2000 and 2004, bronze in 2008) and four world medals (titles in 2003 and 2005, silver in 1997 and 2001).