Men's Discus Throw

Poland continues its dominance in the field events at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, with Piotr Malachowski qualifying first for the Men's Discus Throw final after the preliminary round at the National Stadium on August 16.

His throw of 65.94m was more than enough to put him ahead of the 64.50m qualifying mark, along with second-ranked competitor, Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, who threw 65.84m. Rutger Smith from the Netherlands will go into the final ranked third after throwing an impressive 65.65m.

In the final, dual world and Olympic Games champion Alekna will be determined to defend his title but will face stiff opposition from Estonian Gerd Kanter.

Kanter is hoping to repeat his gold medal performance at the 2007 world championships in Osaka. Both men are the only two throwers in the world to surpass the 70 meter mark this year.

Medal prospect Eshan Hadadi became the first Iranian male to win an Athletics medal at any major championships when he took the 2004 World Junior Championships gold. He failed to make the qualifying mark and came seventh in his group with a throw of 61.34m.

Malachowski's countryman, Tomasz Majewski, won the first Athletics gold medal of the Games in the Men's Shot Put final yesterday, August 15, with a throw of 21.51m.

The final of the Men's Discus Throw will be held at the National Stadium on Tuesday, August 19.

The following athletes have made the final of the Men's Discus:

1. Piotr Malachowski - Poland 65.94m

2. Virgilijus Alekna - Lithuania 65.84m

3. Rutger Smith - Netherlands 65.65m

4. Yennifer Frank Casanas – Spain 64.99m

5. Gerd Kanter - Estonia 64.66m

6. Bogdan Pishchalnikov - Russia 64.60m

7. Mario Pestano - Spain 64.42m

8. Robert Harting - Germany 64.19m

9. Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari - Qatar 63.83m

10. Aleksander Tammert - Estonia 63.10m

11. Robert Fazekas - Hungary 62.64m

12. Frantz Kruger - Finland 62.48m