Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The discus throw (pronunciation ⓘ), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight — called a discus — in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors.
The discus throw is one of four track and field throwing events held at the Summer Olympics.The men's discus throw has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896 (one of two throws events at the first Olympics, alongside the shot put).
Roman bronze reproduction of Myron's Discobolus, 2nd century AD (Glyptothek, Munich) 3D model of a replica at National Gallery of Denmark, Denmark.. The Discobolus by Myron ("discus thrower", Greek: Δισκοβόλος, Diskobólos) is an ancient Greek sculpture completed at the start of the Classical period in around 460–450 BC that depicts an ancient Greek athlete throwing a discus.
The discus throw was competed in the Greek style—the athletes would throw the discus from a raised platform. The long jump was aided by the use of halteres; stone weights which athletes would hold and swing to help propel themselves further. The stadion race was generally around 190 metres long, the length of the Stadium at Olympia.
Most throwing sports use a defined field of play (including an area players may throw an object from, and an area where the object should fall) and a specific throwing method. Common one-armed throwing methods include overhand throwing (releasing with the arm above the shoulder) and underarm throwing (releasing with the arm below the shoulder).
Like all pentathlon events, it consists of five events; the four Olympic throwing events hammer throw, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw, plus the weight throw. Along with the Swedish Castorama (which includes only the four Olympic throws), it is the only combined event composed entirely of throwing events. [1]
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.
The event was first held at the 18th Ancient Olympiad around 708 BC, [2] and changed format a number of times. By the 77th Ancient Olympiad, the pentathlon was generally ordered into three sections: the triagmos of the long jump (Greek: ἅλμα, romanized: hálma), javelin throw (Greek: ἀκόντιον, romanized: akóntion), and discus throw (Greek: δίσκος, romanized: dískos), the ...