Discus Throw

ancient Greece · track and field · Olympic sport · throwing

Born in Ancient Greece. The discus throw started in ancient Greece over 2,700 years ago. A famous statue called Discobolus, made around 500 BC, shows a Greek athlete in the middle of throwing a discus.

Throwing a disc. Athletes throw a flat, round disc called a discus that weighs about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) for men. The goal is simple: throw it farther than everyone else competing.

Spinning technique. Throwers use a special spinning motion where they rotate their body to build up power before releasing the discus. This twist and turn helps the disc travel much farther through the air.

Part of decathlon. Today, the discus throw is one of the ten events in the decathlon, a competition testing all-around athletic skills. Long ago, it was also part of the ancient Greek pentathlon, which had five events.