Day of monster discus throws condemned as 'weather doping'

Mykolas Alekna Photo: AFP

Performance-enhancing drugs have long been the scourge of athletics field events but now some observers are claiming "weather doping" was behind a slew of discus records at a meeting in the United States on Monday.

Lithuania's Mykolas Alekna, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist, smashed his own world record when he became the first man to pass the 75-metre mark with a throw of 75.56m at the Continental Tour Bronze event at Ramona, Oklahoma.

The 22-year-old bettered his own previous mark of 74.35m, set at the same venue last year, having also passed it with his opening throw of 74.89.

New Zealand athlete Connor Bell was among the throwers to benefit from the helpful conditions, breaking his own national record with a throw of 68.38m to place seventh overall.

Australia's Matthew Denny also impressed, surpassing Alekna's record from last year with a throw of 74.78m as five men cleared 70 metres at the same event for the first time.

Valarie Allman also smashed the US women's record with a throw of 73.52m - the longest by a woman for 36 years.

However, various Scandinavian commentators and coaches said the extraordinary performances were enabled by the venue's engineered design, which appears to take advantage of high wind speeds.

The discus throw has no restrictions on wind assistance when it comes to validating records. Photo: photosport

Unlike various track events and the horizontal jumps, the discus throw has no restrictions on wind assistance when it comes to validating records and Millican Field in Oklahoma features several throwing circles positioned to help athletes take advantage of the wind direction.

"Mykolas Alekna smashes his own world record with a 75.56 throw in a wind-battered Ramona and I don't know whether to laugh or cry," Swedish commentator Mats Wennerholm said.

"It just becomes ridiculous in a competition boosted by gale-force winds. Weather doping should be added to the banned list."

"It's a different sport," Staffan Jonsson, the coach of Sweden's Olympic and world champion thrower Daniel Stahl said.

Norway's former Olympic 800m champion-turned pundit Vebjorn Rodal said: "It's blowing like crazy here. There's no doubt this arena is sought out for throwing far."

Thor Gjesdal of the Norwegian Athletics Federation said the weekend results would be ratified and more wind-assisted throws can be expected, despite the criticism.

"It is more difficult to quantify the benefit of wind in the same way as in running," he said. "It will be difficult to change the rules now."

World Athletics did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

- Reuters