Men’s discus throw
Steven Downes for the IAAF
21 October 2000 – There can rarely have been as dramatic an outcome to a discus final at a major championships as with the men’s event here on Saturday, when Hannes Hopley, out of the medals, heaved a South African junior record 59.51 metres in the fifth round to leapfrog the long-time leader and pre-event favourite, Rutger Smith.
Smith, the Dutch winner of the shot put earlier in the week, had only just come to terms with being overtaken for the gold medal position by Sweden’s Niklas Arrhenius’s lifetime best 59.19.
Though Smith sent the discus out to close to the 60-metre mark himself when throwing at the end of round five, the throw was judged a foul. In the end, after four no throws, it was Smith’s 58.70-metre second round throw that gave him the bronze.
With Poland’s Michal Hodun throwing a national junior best 58.62m for fourth, Smith was the only competitor among the top four who did not improve his personal best.
