|
| Event type

Discus Throw, Men

Date12 July 1912
StatusOlympic
LocationStockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm
Participants41 from 15 countries

Since 1902, the discus throw had been the private property of Martin Sheridan of the United States. He had won the Olympic gold medal in 1904, 1906, and 1908; the AAU Championship in 1904, 1906-07, and 1911; and he also set approximately 16 world records. But after winning the AAU title in 1911, he retired, leaving the 1912 Olympic discus throw wide-open.

There were several challengers for Sheridan’s crown. On 5 August 1911, Finland’s Elmer Niklander broke Sheridan’s world record with a throw of 44.01. But shortly before the Olympics, America’s Jim Duncan shattered that mark by throwing 47.58 on 27 May 1912 in a both hands handicap competition at the New York Post Office Clerk’s Association Games. Duncan also won the eastern U.S. Olympic Trial.

But neither Niklander nor Duncan could match Finland’s Armas Taipale. Taipale led the qualifying easily with a throw of 43.91, which set a new Olympic record. Duncan qualified for the final with 42.28, but Niklander did not qualify, finishing fourth. In the final, Taipale improved even more, setting two more Olympic records with his first and third throws in the final. Duncan did not improve in the final and finished third.

The day after his discus gold medal, Taipale doubled with another gold medal in the both-hands discus competition. In 1920, he added a silver medal in the discus to his overall record. In 1913, he set his only world record, breaking Duncan’s mark with 47.85 at Magdeburg on 20 July 1913. In addition to his gold medal, Taipale was the Challenge Trophy for the discus throw, which had been donated in 1908 by Mrs. G. de Montgomery.

PosNrAthleteNOCQualifyingFinal
1Armas TaipaleFIN43.91 (1)45.21 (1)GoldOR
2Dick ByrdUSA42.32 (2)42.32 (2)Silver
3Jim DuncanUSA42.28 (3)42.28 (3)Bronze
4Elmer NiklanderFIN42.09 (4)
5Hans TronnerAUT41.24 (5)
6Arlie MucksUSA40.93 (6)
7George PhilbrookUSA40.92 (7)
8Emil MagnussonSWE39.91 (8)
9Rezső UjlakiHUN39.82 (9)
10Einar NilssonSWE39.69 (10)
11Ralph RoseUSA39.65 (11)
12Emil MullerUSA39.35 (12)
13Michail DorizasGRE39.28 (13)
14Duncan GillisCAN39.01 (14)
15Verner JärvinenFIN38.60 (15)
16Josef WaitzerGER38.44 (16)
17František Janda-SukBOH38.31 (17)
18Aurelio LenziITA38.19 (18)
19Károly KobulszkyHUN38.15 (19)
20Larry WhitneyUSA37.91 (20)
21György LuntzerHUN37.88 (21)
22Avery BrundageUSA37.85 (22)
23Gunnar NilssonSWE37.44 (23)
24Emil WelzGER37.24 (24)
25Samu FótiHUN36.37 (25)
26Gunnar BolanderSWE36.22 (26)
27Carl Johan LindSWE36.07 (27)
28Folke FleetwoodSWE35.06 (28)
29Josef SchäfferAUT34.87 (29)
30André TisonFRA34.73 (30)
31Marcel PelletierLUX33.73 (31)
32Walter HendersonGBR33.61 (32)
33Miklós KovácsHUN33.30 (33)
34Mkrtich MkryanTUR32.98 (34)
35Nikolay NeklepayevRUS32.59 (35)
36Charles LagardeFRA32.35 (36)
37Henning MöllerSWE32.23 (37)
38Miroslav ŠusteraBOH31.83 (38)
39Ēriks VanagsRUS31.34 (39)
40Otto NilssonSWE31.07 (40)
NMPaul WillführGER– (NP)
DNSAndrew SheridanUSA
DNSCesare RosiniITA
DNSPietro ErculeiITA
DNSKnut ThelningSWE
DNSKároly NyilassyHUN
DNSHenri PelissierFRA
DNSJohn HookerUSA
DNSPál AntalHUN
DNSVilmos ZöldiHUN
DNSPeter FúleHUN
DNSRussell BeattyUSA
DNSAugust KihlartRUS
DNSKarl MichlAUT
DNSGustave LemassonFRA
DNSGustave AmolyFRA
DNSPaavo AhoFIN
DNSRaoul PaoliFRA
DNSEdmond BarrettGBR
DNSPaddy QuinnGBR
DNSNikolaos GeorgantasGRE
DNSImre MudinHUN
DNSIstván MudinHUN
DNSUmberto AvattaneoITA
DNSCarlo ButtiITA
DNSGiuseppe TugnoliITA
DNSJohn FalchenbergNOR
DNSArvīds Ozols-BernēRUS
DNSEric LemmingSWE
DNSNils LindeSWE
DNSHugo WieslanderSWE
DNSPat McDonaldUSA
DNSAndré DésfargesFRA

Qualifying Round (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

Qualifiers were seperated into five groups. Top three throwers qualified for the final.

PosAthleteNOCDistance
1Armas TaipaleFIN43.91QOR
2Dick ByrdUSA42.32Q
3Jim DuncanUSA42.28Q
4Elmer NiklanderFIN42.09
5Hans TronnerAUT41.24
6Arlie MucksUSA40.93
7George PhilbrookUSA40.92
8Emil MagnussonSWE39.91
9Rezső UjlakiHUN39.82
10Einar NilssonSWE39.69
11Ralph RoseUSA39.65
12Emil MullerUSA39.35
13Michail DorizasGRE39.28
14Duncan GillisCAN39.01
15Verner JärvinenFIN38.60
16Josef WaitzerGER38.44
17František Janda-SukBOH38.31
18Aurelio LenziITA38.19
19Károly KobulszkyHUN38.15
20Larry WhitneyUSA37.91
21György LuntzerHUN37.88
22Avery BrundageUSA37.85
23Gunnar NilssonSWE37.44
24Emil WelzGER37.24
25Samu FótiHUN36.37
26Gunnar BolanderSWE36.22
27Carl Johan LindSWE36.07
28Folke FleetwoodSWE35.06
29Josef SchäfferAUT34.87
30André TisonFRA34.73
31Marcel PelletierLUX33.73
32Walter HendersonGBR33.61
33Miklós KovácsHUN33.30
34Mkrtich MkryanTUR32.98
35Nikolay NeklepayevRUS32.59
36Charles LagardeFRA32.35
37Henning MöllerSWE32.23
38Miroslav ŠusteraBOH31.83
39Ēriks VanagsRUS31.34
40Otto NilssonSWE31.07
NPPaul WillführGER

Qualifying Round, Group A (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceGroup A Round OneGroup A Round TwoGroup A Round Three
1Armas TaipaleFIN43.9136.8443.91×OR
2Hans TronnerAUT41.2439.97×41.24
3Emil MagnussonSWE39.9139.91××
4Einar NilssonSWE39.6937.2638.7739.69
5Michail DorizasGRE39.28×39.28×
6Josef WaitzerGER38.4438.44××
7Károly KobulszkyHUN38.1537.8138.15×
8Avery BrundageUSA37.8537.4837.85×
9Otto NilssonSWE31.0731.07××

Qualifying Round, Group B (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceGroup B Round OneGroup B Round TwoGroup B Round Three
1Arlie MucksUSA40.9340.5440.93×
2Emil MullerUSA39.3537.9138.6939.35
3Verner JärvinenFIN38.6034.1538.60×
4Larry WhitneyUSA37.9134.8737.91×
5Samu FótiHUN36.3735.51×36.37
6Carl Johan LindSWE36.07×35.0436.07
7Nikolay NeklepayevRUS32.5932.59××

Qualifying Round, Group C (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceGroup C Round OneGroup C Round TwoGroup C Round Three
1Elmer NiklanderFIN42.0942.09××
2Ralph RoseUSA39.6537.3438.8239.65
3Duncan GillisCAN39.0139.01××
4František Janda-SukBOH38.3132.4136.8538.31
5Gunnar NilssonSWE37.44×37.44×
6Miklós KovácsHUN33.3033.30××
7Mkrtich MkryanTUR32.98××32.98
8Miroslav ŠusteraBOH31.8331.83××
NMPaul WillführGER×××

Qualifying Round, Group D (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceGroup D Round OneGroup D Round TwoGroup D Round Three
1Dick ByrdUSA42.3237.4842.32
2Jim DuncanUSA42.2841.6142.28
3Rezső UjlakiHUN39.8239.82×
4Emil WelzGER37.2436.1637.24
5Josef SchäfferAUT34.87×34.87
6Marcel PelletierLUX33.7333.73×

Qualifying Round, Group E (12 July 1912 — 9:30)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceGroup E Round OneGroup E Round TwoGroup E Round Three
1George PhilbrookUSA40.9238.1438.5540.92
2Aurelio LenziITA38.1935.5838.19×
3György LuntzerHUN37.8837.88××
4Gunnar BolanderSWE36.22×36.22×
5Folke FleetwoodSWE35.0632.0232.8935.06
6André TisonFRA34.7334.73××
7Walter HendersonGBR33.61×33.61×
8Charles LagardeFRA32.3530.76×32.35
9Henning MöllerSWE32.23×32.23×
10Ēriks VanagsRUS31.34×31.34×

Final Round (12 July 1912 — 12:00)

PosOrdAthleteNOCDistanceR1R2R3
1Armas TaipaleFIN45.2144.3445.21OR
2Dick ByrdUSA42.3241.09
3Jim DuncanUSA42.2841.33