Venue Olympic Stadium | ||
Dates September 9 & September 10 | ||
The women's discus throw field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 9 & September 10. Armenia Soviet Faina Melnik was the strong favorite to win the gold. She has broken the world record five times since 1971 as well as being the European Champion in the same year. But twice in 1972 she had been beaten by Romanian Argentina Menis. Menis took the lead in round one breaking the Olympic record throw of 64.28 m (210 ft 10 1⁄2 in). In the start of the fourth round Menis lead with Melnik in fifth. Menis then improved here distance to 65.06 m (213 ft 5 1⁄2 in). Melnike threw next and overtook Menis with a throw of 66.62 m (218 ft 7 in) which held on to win the gold. Thirteen days later, Menis broke Melnik’s world record with a throw of 67.32 m (220 ft 10 1⁄2 in).
Contents
Results
All throwers reaching 55.00 m (180 ft 5 1⁄2 in) and the top 12 including ties, advanced to the finals. All qualifiers are shown in blue. All distances are listed in metres.
Final
Key: OR = Olympic record; p = pass; x = fault; NM = no mark