Full name Jaroslav Žitňanský Sport Athletics Height 1.9 m Event Discus throw | Nationality Slovakia Club Slávia UK Bratislava Weight 110 kg | |
Born 18 February 1971 (age 46) ( 1971-02-18 ) Piešťany, Trnava,
Czechoslovakia Personal best(s) Discus throw: 67.20 (2002) | ||
Jaroslav Žitňanský (born February 18, 1971 in Piešťany, Trnava) is a retired Slovak discus thrower. He represented his nation Slovakia in two editions of the Olympic Games (1996 and 2004), and also trained throughout his sporting career as a member of the athletics team for the sport club Slávia UK Bratislava. Zitnansky has established a Slovak record-breaking throw of 67.20 m in the discus at Nacht van Volharding in Beveren, Belgium.
Zitnansky made his official debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he competed as part of the newly-formed Slovak team in the men's discus throw. He unleashed the discus into the field with a throw of 51.50 m on his third attempt, finishing thirty-eighth overall in the prelims.
Eight years after competing in his last Olympics, Zitnansky qualified for his second Slovak team, as a 33-year-old, in the men's discus throw at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Less than two months before the Games, Zitnansky threw the discus of 64.25 m to achieve an Olympic B-standard at the track and field class "A" meet in Vienna, Austria. Unlike his previous Olympic feat, Zitnansky steadily recorded a 53.30-metre throw on his opening attempt in the prelims. Followed by a single foul and a throw slightly shorter than his first by 1.43 m on his next two attempts, Zitnansky finished thirty-sixth in the overall standings against a field of thirty-nine athletes, and did not advance further to the final.