Mikolas Alekna of Lithuania broke a 38 years old world record in discus throw. At the Oklahoma Throws Series competition in the USA, the 21 years old athlete threw a projectile 74,35 meters, thereby surpassing the achievement of Jurgen Schult from Germany (74,08 m, 1986). Mail.ru reports this with reference to World Athletics.
Alekna's fifth attempt was a record. It is worth noting that he surpassed his personal best by as much as 3 meters, set a week earlier.
This is not the first triumph for the young athlete. In 2022, he became the youngest medalist at the World Championships in discus throwing, winning silver, and also became European champion. In 2023, he added a world championship bronze to his collection.
Alekna's achievement is all the more impressive given that he is the son of two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna. Virgilius, winner of the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics, still holds the second best result in history (73,88 m).