Olympic record delivers historic discus gold to Rojé Stona

Saint-Denis, France – Razorback Rojé Stona broke the Olympic discus record in the fourth round of competition at Stade de France with an impressive throw of 229 feet, 8 inches (70.00) and it delivered an historic gold medal for the Jamaican thrower.

The event already witnessed an Olympic record of 229-6 (69.97) in the third round by world record holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, who bettered his father’s Olympic record of 229-3 (69.89) set in 2004.

“It’s a great feeling, it’s what I’ve been praying for and what I’ve been dreaming of,” stated Stona, who became Jamaica’s first gold medalist in a field event. “To come here and actually do it, it’s the best feeling in my life.

“To do it here I knew it would take a lot. Going into the final three rounds I was in seventh place. It doesn’t get any more difficult than that. I knew I had nothing to lose so I just went for it.”

Stona managed to better the Olympic record by two inches (3 cm) and that became the difference between gold and silver medal distribution. Australia’s Matthew Denny finished as the bronze medalist with a 227-4 (69.31).

Along with the pair of Olympic records for first and second place, third through sixth were also the best marks for place in the history of the Games. Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia placed fourth at 224-5 (68.41) with Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria fifth with a mark of 221-7 (67.54) and Germany’s Clemens Pruefer finished sixth at 221-2 (67.41).

European throwers have won 11 consecutive Olympic discus titles since 1980.

“It’s been a long year for me, actually,” said Stona. “I did shot put during the indoor season, then went to a couple of NFL training camps, and then took back up discus. Now, I’m here.”

Stona finished as the silver medalist in the NCAA Indoor shot put. Then came his venture into football with training camps at Green Bay and New Orleans. In returning to the discus, he’s been training with three-time Olympic shot put gold medalist Ryan Crouser.

“Ryan Crouser is a great guy and the greatest shot putter of all time,” noted Stona. “To work with him is a really good feeling and I’m just looking forward to what the future has to hold.

“He knew what I was capable of since we’ve been training all year. He came and executed and I came and executed. It was just the perfect championship.”

The series for Stona included marks of 202-3 (61.66), 213-11 (65.20), and 216-11 (66.16) in the first three rounds. After the Olympic record throw in round four, Stona had a foul in rounds five and six. His previous career best measured 226-6 (69.05) from mid-April this season.

“My warm-ups weren’t that well and my first three throws weren’t that well,” stated Stona. “I didn’t get a good release. Then I had a great release in the fourth round.

“When I came to the front and whipped it, I saw that it had a good flight. When it hit the 70m line, it was a great throw.”