Son breaks father's Olympic record after 20 years (8 photos)

In 2004, Lithuanian athlete Virgilijus Alekna threw the discus 69.89 m and became an Olympic record holder. Twenty years later, his son Mykolas broke his father's record.





Mykolas Alekna, a 21-year-old discus thrower from Lithuania, was considered one of the favorites for the Paris Olympics thanks to his impressive achievements. Thus, in April of this year, he broke the world record set in June 1986 by Jurgen Schult from the GDR and became the owner of the longest throw in history - 74.35 m.

At the same time, his father's Olympic record, set at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, still remained unbeaten. Needless to say, this became an excellent motivation for the young athlete.







Mikolas easily reached the final, and when the time came for the second attempt, he threw the discus 69.97 m.

Unfortunately, the record did not last long. Jamaican athlete Roger Stone threw 3 cm further than Mikolas and won gold.



"I felt I could do better. Maybe you saw the disc was shaking. I thought I could improve the result, but it didn't work out. My record, as you said, lasted 20 minutes. In four years, I hope it will be mine for longer," the Lithuanian said optimistically.



"It was amazing! I am very happy that I participated in the final. I am happy that I brought another medal to Lithuania. Of course, I did not win, but I will definitely do it next time. No regrets - a medal is a medal!"





Discus throw is the oldest form of athletics, and according to Olympics.com, it originated in Greece around 708 BC. However, over time it was forgotten, and it was not until the 1870s that German teacher Christian Georg Kohlrausch and his students rediscovered it.

The sport came to Lithuania about half a century later, in 1921. But it was only in 1986, when Romas Ubartas became European champion and Vaclavas Kidikas managed to win a bronze medal, that Lithuania began to be considered one of the strongest countries in discus throwing.