Mykolas Alekna (born 28 September 2002) is a Lithuanian athlete who specializes in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

. He is the current men’s world record holder of the event with 75.56 metres (247 ft 10.8 in). 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 The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

, setting the competition record in the process. In 2021, he was the World Under-20 and European U20 champion. Mykolas is the son of double Olympic discus throw champion

Virgilijus Alekna Virgilijus Alekna (; 13 February 1972) is a Lithuanian former discus thrower and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds. After retiring from athletics, Alekna was elected to the national parliament, t ...

. His brother Martynas Alekna is also a discus thrower.

Career

In June 2022, 19-year-old Mykolas Alekna threw his new personal best of 69.81 m while finishing second at the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meet, the longest ever discus throw by a teenager. At the 2022 World Championships held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

in July, he lost only to

Kristjan Čeh Kristjan Čeh / tʃex/ (born 17 February 1999) is a Slovenian athlete specialising in the discus throw. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, setting a championship record in the process. Čeh placed second at the 202 ...

, becoming the youngest world discus medallist in history. 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 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. His father had won this title 16 years earlier. On 29 April 2023 at The Big Meet in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, 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. On the second day of the 2024 Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in

Ramona, Oklahoma Ramona is a town in Washington County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 535 at the 2010 census. History The town began as Bon-Ton, but changed its name to Ramona in 1899 in honor of the Helen Hunt Jackson novel of the same name. ...

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. 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), each of which stood among the 100 best discus throws of all time. In the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, 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 Athens 2004 may refer to: * 2004 Summer Olympics * 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internati ...

. However, the record was broken by gold medalist

Rojé Stona Rojé Stona (born 26 February 1999) is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. He broke the Olympic record to win the gold medal at the Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw, 2024 Summer Olympic ...

minutes later, who threw his personal best and set a new olympic record at 70.0 metres. Early in 2025, Alekna would compete for

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

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.

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alekna, Mykolas Lithuanian male discus throwers 2002 births Living people World Athletics U20 Championships winners 21st-century Lithuanian sportsmen European Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics record holders California Golden Bears men's track and field athletes United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Lithuania Olympic athletes for Lithuania Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)