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The winner of the discus competition if the athlete who throws the discus the farthest. The oldest of the throwing events, discus draws its inspiration from ancient warriors who throw their shields to shed weight before crossing a river.
It was part of the pentathlon in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 B.C., and in The Odyssey Homer glowingly described Ulysses throwing the discus. Over the centuries, the Celts, Saxons, Scots and English included the event in their traditional competitions and athletes threw a wooden discus in the early 19th century in some Swiss cantons.
The first Olympic medals for men's discus were awarded in the 1896 Olympics in Athens, and those for women's discus 32 years later, in Amsterdam in 1928. The discipline became part of the world track and field championships for men and women in 1983.
Ironically, the discus event is the only event of all Track and field competitions that the women thrower outshine the score of the men throwers. |
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