| | Event type

Discus Throw, Women

Date	9 – 10 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants	17 from 10 countries

Armenian Soviet Faina Melnik was a solid favorite. She had broken the world record five times since 1971, was European Champion in 1971, and would win that title again in 1974. But twice in 1972 she had been beaten by Romanian Argentina Menis. Menis took the lead in round one with an Olympic record 64.28 (210-10¾). By the fourth round, she led with Melnik in fifth, and Menis then improved to 65.06 (213-5½). But Melnik was the next thrower and overtook Menis with 66.62 (218-7) which held on for the gold medal. Thirteen days later, Menis broke Melnik’s world record with 67.32 (220-10½).

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	352	Faina Melnik	URS	61.26 (2)	66.62 (1)	Gold	OR
2	296	Argentina Menis	ROU	61.58 (1)	65.06 (2)	Silver	OR
3	39	Vasilka Stoeva	BUL	55.26 (11)	64.34 (3)	Bronze
4	340	Tamara Danilova	URS	60.34 (3)	62.86 (4)
5	180	Liesel Westermann	FRG	58.26 (5)	62.18 (5)
6	131	Gabriele Hinzmann	GDR	59.80 (4)	61.72 (6)
7	294	Carmen Ionescu	ROU	57.82 (6)	60.42 (7)
8	354	Lyudmila Muravyova	URS	55.24 (12)	59.00 (8)
9	295	Lia Manoliu	ROU	55.88 (9)	58.50 (9)
10	33	Svetla Bozhkova	BUL	56.42 (8)	56.72 (10)
11	155	Brigitte Berendonk	FRG	56.90 (7)	56.58 (11)
12	110	Rosemary Payne	GBR	55.56 (10)	56.50 (12)
13 QR	263	Josephine de la Viña	PHI	53.92 (13)	–
14 QR	44	Radostina Vasekova	BUL	53.86 (14)	–
15 QR	278	Krystyna Nadolna	POL	52.52 (15)	–
16 QR	369	Olga Fikotová-Connolly	USA	51.58 (16)	–
17 QR	29	Maggy Wauters	BEL	49.62 (17)	–
DNS	58	Rosa Molina	CHI	– (DNS)	–
DNS	195	Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek	HUN	– (DNS)	–
DNS	62	Baek Ok-Ja	KOR	– (DNS)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	9 September 1972 — 10:30
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 55.00 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	7	Argentina Menis	ROU	61.58	61.58	p	p	QOR
2	17	Faina Melnik	URS	61.26	53.00	61.26	p	Q
3	13	Tamara Danilova	URS	60.34	60.34	p	p	Q
4	10	Gabriele Hinzmann	GDR	59.80	59.80	p	p	Q
5	2	Liesel Westermann	FRG	58.26	58.26	p	p	Q
6	11	Carmen Ionescu	ROU	57.82	x	57.82	p	Q
7	5	Brigitte Berendonk	FRG	56.90	54.74	56.90	p	Q
8	12	Svetla Bozhkova	BUL	56.42	54.52	56.42	p	Q
9	14	Lia Manoliu	ROU	55.88	55.88	p	p	Q
10	8	Rosemary Payne	GBR	55.56	x	53.56	55.56	Q
11	16	Vasilka Stoeva	BUL	55.26	x	55.26	p	Q
12	15	Lyudmila Muravyova	URS	55.24	55.24	p	p	Q
13	20	Josephine de la Viña	PHI	53.92	51.08	x	53.92
14	3	Radostina Vasekova	BUL	53.86	x	x	53.86
15	4	Krystyna Nadolna	POL	52.52	x	47.42	52.52
16	9	Olga Fikotová-Connolly	USA	51.58	51.58	x	x
17	6	Maggy Wauters	BEL	49.62	49.62	x	x
DNS	19	Rosa Molina	CHI	–	–	–	–
DNS	18	Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek	HUN	–	–	–	–
DNS	1	Baek Ok-Ja	KOR	–	–	–	–

Final Round

Date	10 September 1972 — 15:00

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance	Round #4 Distance	Round #5 Distance	Round #6 Distance
1	12	Faina Melnik	URS	66.62	60.56	61.32	57.96	66.62	62.76	x	OR
2	11	Argentina Menis	ROU	65.06	64.28	59.82	60.88	65.06	63.78	64.90	OR
3	8	Vasilka Stoeva	BUL	64.34	61.08	x	64.20	62.24	64.34	62.10
4	7	Tamara Danilova	URS	62.86	62.64	58.14	62.86	61.14	x	x
5	2	Liesel Westermann	FRG	62.18	x	57.04	62.18	61.66	x	x
6	10	Gabriele Hinzmann	GDR	61.72	57.52	59.14	60.12	61.08	61.72	60.22
7	6	Carmen Ionescu	ROU	60.42	58.80	58.76	57.06	59.08	x	60.42
8	5	Lyudmila Muravyova	URS	59.00	57.78	57.92	59.00	x	58.86	57.20
9	9	Lia Manoliu	ROU	58.50	58.18	58.50	x	–	–	–
10	3	Svetla Bozhkova	BUL	56.72	56.50	56.72	x	–	–	–
11	4	Brigitte Berendonk	FRG	56.58	55.60	x	56.58	–	–	–
12	1	Rosemary Payne	GBR	56.50	56.50	x	52.26	–	–	–