1928 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Discus Throw (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Discus throw
gender	Women
Attendees	21 athletes from 12 countries
Competition location	Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
Competition phase	July 31, 1928
Medalists Halina Konopacka ( POL )   Lillian Copeland ( USA )   Ruth Svedberg ( SWE )

The women's discus throw at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam was played on July 31, 1928 in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium. 21 athletes took part.

The Olympic champion was Halina Konopacka from Poland with a new world record , ahead of Lillian Copeland from the USA . Bronze went to Ruth Svedberg from Sweden .

Existing records

• World record : 39.18 m - Halina Konopacka ( Poland ), Warsaw , September 4, 1927
• The discipline was on the Olympic program for the first time. That is why there was no Olympic record yet .

Conducting the competition

On July 31st there was a qualifying round in two groups. The six best starters of the participants in all groups qualified for the final, which was held on the same day. The result of the qualification was included in the final result.

Note: The qualified throwers are highlighted in light blue.

qualification

Group 1

The Dutch Lena Michaëlis failed in the qualification.

Date: July 31, 1928

space	Surname	nation	Expanse	annotation
1	Halina Konopacka	Poland	39.17 m	OR
2	Lillian Copeland	United States	36.66 m
3	Grete Heublein	German Empire	35.56 m
4th	Ruth Svedberg	Sweden	34.68 m
5	Maybelle Reichardt	United States	33.52 m
6th	Lucienne Velu	France	31.29 m
7th	Lena Michaëlis	Netherlands	31.04 m
8th	Paula Mollenhauer	German Empire	30.94 m
9	Piera Borsani	Italy	30.67 m
10	Elfrīda Karlsone	Latvia	30.60 m
11	Lucie Petit-Diagre	Belgium	25.28 m
12	Jenny Toitgans	Belgium	24.40 m

Group 2

Bets Dekens (NED) was eliminated from the qualification.

space	Surname	nation	Expanse	annotation
1	Milly Reuter	German Empire	34.75 m
2	Lisl Perkaus	Austria	33.54 m
3	Genowefa Kobielska	Poland	32.72 m
4th	Charlotte Mäder	German Empire	32.22 m
5	Rena MacDonald	United States	30.25 m
6th	Erzsébet Ruda	Hungary	29.65 m
7th	Bets Dekens	Netherlands	29.36 m
8th	Berta Jikeli	Romania	28.19 m
9	Margaret Jenkins	United States	27.07 m

Bottom line

Halina Konopacka (POL), the first woman to win gold in athletics

Date: July 31, 1928

In the discus throw , there was a new world record for the Olympic champion as in the 4 x 100 meter relay . With 39.62 m, the Polish favorite Halina Konopacka stayed just below the 40-meter mark. Lillian Copeland from the United States won the silver medal, while the bronze went to Ruth Svedberg from Sweden. Only six centimeters and 36 centimeters behind, the two Germans Milly Reuter and Grete Heublein took fourth and fifth place.

Halina Konopacka, the favorite of this competition, became the first female athletics Olympic champion in the history of the Olympic Games. At the same time, it ensured Poland's first ever Olympic victory.

space	Surname	nation	Qualification range	Final width	result	annotation
1	Halina Konopacka	Poland	39.17 m	39.52 m	39.62 m	WR
2	Lillian Copeland	United States	36.66 m	37.08 m	37.08 m
3	Ruth Svedberg	Sweden	34.68 m	35.92 m	35.92 m
4th	Milly Reuter	German Empire	34.75 m	35.86 m	35.86 m
5	Grete Heublein	German Empire	35.56 m	no improvement in the final	35.56 m
6th	Lisl Perkaus	Austria	33.54 m	no improvement in the final	33.54 m
7th	Maybelle Reichardt	United States	33.52 m	not in the final	33.52 m
8th	Genowefa Kobielska	Poland	32.72 m	not in the final	32.72 m

literature

Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 217

Web links

• SportsReference Discus Throw , accessed September 14, 2017
• Official report pp. 477–479, engl. (PDF), accessed on September 14, 2017

Video

• Many Debuts At The Amsterdam Games - Amsterdam 1928 Olympics , range 1:32 min to 1:38 min, published on October 22, 2012 on youtube.com, accessed on September 14, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 217