Irina Meszynski (born 24 March 1962 in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

) is a retired East German discus thrower. On 17 August 1984 Meszynski set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in women's discus throw at boycott inspired Friendship Games of 73.36 meters. Her record lasted barely a week before it was bested by

Zdeňka Šilhavá Zdeňka Šilhavá (born Kusá, later known as Bartoňová-Šilhavá; 15 June 1954 in Krnov) is a Czech retired female track and field athlete who represented Czechoslovakia. She set the world record in the women's discus throw on 26 August 1984 ...

with a mark that puts Šilhavá as equal to the number 2 thrower in history. Today, Meszynski's result is enough to occupy the sixth place on the world all-time list and a fourth place on the German all-time list behind Gabriele Reinsch, Ilke Wyludda and Diana Gansky-Sachse. Her career highlights include a gold medal with 60.30 m at the 1979 European Junior Championships, an eighth place with 63.78 m at the 1982 European Championships in AthleticsEuropean Athletics Association results database
and a fourth place with 65.20 m at the 1986 European Championships in Athletics. She represented the sports team TSC Berlin and became East German champion in 1982.East German championships - women's discus throw
/ref> She weighed 97 kg, and stood 1.76 m tall.

References

1962 births Living people East German female discus throwers World record setters in athletics (track and field) Friendship Games medalists in athletics Athletes from East Berlin East German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-discus-bio-stub