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Mykolas Alekna
Lithuanian athletics competitor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mykolas Alekna (born 28 September 2002)[1] is a Lithuanian athlete who specializes in the discus throw. He is the current men’s world record holder of the event with 75.56 metres (247 ft 10.8 in).[2] At the age of 19, he won the silver medal at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the youngest world discus medallist in history. Alekna was then the youngest ever winner in his discipline at the 2022 European Championships, setting the competition record in the process.[3][4]
In 2021, he was the World Under-20 and European U20 champion.[5][6][7]
Mykolas is the son of double Olympic discus throw champion Virgilijus Alekna.[8] His brother Martynas Alekna is also a discus thrower.
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In June 2022, 19-year-old Mykolas Alekna threw his new personal best of 69.81 m while finishing second at the Stockholm Diamond League meet, the longest ever discus throw by a teenager. At the 2022 World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in July, he lost only to Kristjan Čeh, becoming the youngest world discus medallist in history.[3] Less than a month later at the European Championships Munich 2022, Alekna became the first teenager to win a medal in the discus throw, let alone the gold, beating Čeh and all three medallists from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His father had won this title 16 years earlier.[9][4]
On 29 April 2023 at The Big Meet in Berkeley, California, Alekna became the youngest discus thrower in history to throw beyond 70 metres, moving up to 18th on the world all-time list with his new best of 71.00 m, a new European U23 record.[10][11]
On the second day of the 2024 Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational[12] in Ramona, Oklahoma on 14 April, Alekna set a new world record of 74.35 m, surpassing Jürgen Schult's previous record of 74.08 m. This record had stood since 1986, making it the longest-standing world record in men's athletics.[13] Under near-perfect conditions, Alekna surpassed the mark of 70 m with all six of his attempts (throwing 72.21, 70.32, 72.89, 70.51, 74.35 and 70.50 m),[14][15] each of which stood among the 100 best discus throws of all time.[16]
In the Paris 2024 Olympics, Alekna secured the silver medal with a throw of 69.97 metres on his second attempt, surpassing his father Virgiljus's Olympic record that had stood since Athens 2004. However, the record was broken by gold medalist Rojé Stona minutes later, who threw his personal best and set a new olympic record at 70.0 metres.[17]
Early in 2025, Alekna would compete for University of California at the 2025 Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in Ramona, Oklahoma on April 13th. Early in the competetion, Alekna threw a new world record of 74.89 m. Then in the later round, Alekna unleashed a throw out the right hand sector, the throw would then be blown back in towards the sector and landed in bounds for a new world record of 75.56 m. This throw made Alekna the first male competitor over 75 meters in discus history. This throw also set a new NCAA record.
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International competitions
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References
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