Battle of Honey Springs

The women's discus throw field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 9 & September 10.[1] 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+12 in). In the start of the fourth round Menis lead with Melnik in fifth. Menis then improved her distance to 65.06 m (213 ft 5+12 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+12 in).[2]

Results

All throwers reaching 55.00 m (180 ft 5+12 in) and the top 12 including ties, advanced to the finals. All qualifiers are shown in blue. All distances are listed in metres.

Qualifying

Rank Name Nationality Mark 1st throw 2nd throw 3rd throw
1 Argentina Menis  Romania 61.58
OR
61.58 p p
2 Faina Melnik  Soviet Union 61.26 53.00 61.26 p
3 Tamara Danilova  Soviet Union 60.34 60.34 p p
4 Gabriele Hinzmann  East Germany 59.80 59.80 p p
5 Liesel Westermann  West Germany 58.26 58.26 p p
6 Carmen Ionescu  Romania 57.82 x 57.82 p
7 Brigitte Berendonk  West Germany 56.90 54.74 56.90 p
8 Svetla Bozhkova  Bulgaria 56.42 54.52 56.42 p
9 Lia Manoliu  Romania 55.88 55.88 p p
10 Rosemary Payne  Great Britain 55.56 x 53.56 55.56
11 Vasilka Stoeva  Bulgaria 55.26 x 55.26 p
12 Lyudmila Muravyova  Soviet Union 55.24 55.24 p p
13 Josephine de la Viña  Philippines 53.29 51.08 x 53.29
14 Radostina Vasekova  Bulgaria 53.86 x x 53.86
15 Krystyna Nadolna  Poland 52.52 x 47.42 52.52
16 Olga Connolly  United States 51.58 51.58 x 50.76
17 Maggy Wauters  Belgium 49.62 49.62 x x
Ok-Ja Paik  South Korea DNS
Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek  Hungary DNS
Rosa Molina  Chile DNS

Final

Rank Name Nationality Mark 1st throw 2nd throw 3rd throw 4th throw 5th throw 6th throw
1st place, gold medalist(s) Faina Melnik  Soviet Union 66.62
OR
60.56 61.32 57.96 66.62
OR
62.76 x
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Argentina Menis  Romania 65.06 64.28
OR
59.82 60.88 65.06
OR
63.78 64.90
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Vasilka Stoeva  Bulgaria 64.34 61.08 x 64.20 62.24 64.34 62.10
4 Tamara Danilova  Soviet Union 62.86 62.64
OR
58.14 62.86 61.14 x x
5 Liesel Westermann  West Germany 62.18 x 57.04 62.18 61.66 x x
6 Gabriele Hinzmann  East Germany 61.72 57.52 59.14 60.12 61.08 61.72 60.22
7 Carmen Ionescu  Romania 60.42 57.78 58.76 57.06 59.08 x 60.42
8 Lyudmila Muravyova  Soviet Union 59.00 57.52 57.92 59.00 x 58.86 57.20
9 Lia Manoliu  Romania 58.50 58.18 58.50 x
10 Svetla Bozhkova  Bulgaria 56.72 56.50 56.72 x
11 Brigitte Berendonk  West Germany 56.58 55.60 x 56.58
12 Rosemary Payne  Great Britain 56.50 56.50 x 52.26

Key: OR = Olympic record; p = pass; x = fault; NM = no mark

References

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich City Summer Games: Women's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. ^ Sports Reference. "Athletics at the 1972 München Summer Games: Women's Discus Throw". Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2012.

External links