1968 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Discus Throw (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Discus throw
gender	Women
Attendees	15 athletes from 8 countries
Competition location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Competition phase	October 18, 1968
Medalists Lia Manoliu ( ROM )   Liesel Westermann ( FRG )   Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek ( HUN )

The women's discus throw at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City was played on October 18, 1968 in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario . 15 athletes took part.

The Romanian Lia Manoliu became Olympic champion . She won ahead of Liesel Westermann from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Hungarian Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek .

In addition to the medalist, Brigitte Berendonk also started for the Federal Republic of Germany (officially Germany). She was eighth.
The GDR - officially East Germany - was represented by Anita Otto , Christine Spielberg and Karin Illgen . Otto reached fourth place, Spielberg seventh and Illgen came tenth.
Athletes from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Existing records

World record	62.54 m	Liesel Westermann ( Federal Republic of Germany )	Werdohl , Federal Republic of Germany (now Germany )	July 24, 1968
Olympic record	57.27 m	Tamara Press ( Soviet Union )	Tokyo finals , Japan	October 19, 1964

Conducting the competition

The athletes started the competition on October 18 at 3:30 pm (Mexico City time ( UTC −6). Due to the small number of participants, a qualifying round was omitted. Each thrower initially had three attempts. For the first time, the best eight - and not like the top six until 1964 - athletes then carry out three more attempts.

final

Date: October 14, 1968, 3:30 p.m.

The German world record holder Liesel Westermann was the favorite . Your main competitor was the European champion from 1966 , Christine Spielberg from the GDR. The circle of medal contenders was completed by Lia Manoliu from Romania. She competed for the fifth time at the Olympic Games and had a number of successes: sixth in 1952 , ninth in 1956 , bronze medalist in 1960 and 1964 . Manoliu at the age of 36 and Olga Connolly at the age of 35, Olympic champion from 1956 under her then name Olga Fikotová, were by far the oldest starters in this competition.

In the first round, Lia Manoliu threw the discus on a new Olympic record , which brought her the Olympic victory. After this first round, the Hungarian Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek was in second place ahead of Anita Otto from the GDR, Westermann and Spielberg. In the second attempt, Westermann passed the Hungarian, Otto slipped to fourth place, the Soviet thrower Antonina Popowa to fifth. After a failed attempt in round one, Connolly was able to line up in sixth place ahead of Spielberg. Nothing in this classification changed until the end - and there was a reason for that: it began to rain at the beginning of the second run, and this rain got stronger and stronger. This led to the fact that the throwing ring became more and more slippery, so that the throwers no longer had a hold for their quick turns. Anyone who did not get a good throw in the second attempt at the latest had no chance of reaching an attractive distance.

Lia Manoliu won the first Romanian Olympic victory in this discipline.

Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek won the first Hungarian medal in the women's discus throw .

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	4th attempt	5th attempt	6th attempt	Bottom line	annotation
1	Lia Manoliu	Romania	58.28 m OR	x	-	x	46.82 m	x	58.28 m	OR
2	Liesel Westermann	BR Germany	54.02 m	57.76 m	x	55.78 m	x	x	57.76 m
3	Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek	Hungary	54.90 m	54.24 m	x	x	x	x	54.90 m
4th	Anita Otto	GDR	54.40 m	54.10 m	53.88 m	x	51.16 m	52.34 m	54.40 m
5	Antonina Popova	Soviet Union	53.42 m	53.12 m	51.40 m	52.60 m	52.86 m	x	53.42 m
6th	Olga Connolly	United States	x	52.96 m	50.74 m	x	x	50.40 m	52.96 m
7th	Christine Spielberg	GDR	52.86 m	x	52.86 m	x	52.62 m	49.80 m	52.86 m
8th	Brigitte Berendonk	BR Germany	52.80 m	49.66 m	46.90 m	x	x	50.46 m	52.80 m
9	Lyudmila Muravyova	Soviet Union	51.80 m	52.26 m	50.20 m	not in the final of the eight best throwers			52.26 m
10	Karin Illgen	GDR	50.40 m	x	52.08 m				52.08 m
11	Judit Stugner	United States	42.12 m	51.38 m	52.08 m				52.08 m
12	Daschdsewegiin Namdschilmaa	Mongolia	50.76 m	x	49.00 m				50.76 m
13	Olimpia Cataramă	Romania	x	47.50 m	50.20 m				50.20 m
14th	Carol Moseke	United States	48.28 m	44.78 m	44.04 m				48.28 m
15th	Jean Roberts	Australia	36.56 m	46.26 m	x				46.26 m

• 

  Olympic champion Lia Manoliu, Romania

• 

  Liesel Westermann, BR Germany, winner of the silver medal

• 

  Fourth place for Anita Otto, GDR

• 

  Karin Illgen from the GDR reached number ten

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 390f

Web links

• SportsReference Discus Throw , accessed November 12, 2017
• Official report - summary p. 104f., English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 12, 2017
• Official report of the Olympic Games 1968 p. 537, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 12, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 647 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on 12 November 2017
2. ↑ Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 11, English / French (PDF), accessed on November 12, 2017 
3. ↑ Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 11, English / French (PDF), accessed on November 12, 2017 
4. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 390f