Cal Track & Field: Mykolas Alekna Caps Season by Winning European Discus Title

Mykolas Alekna’s spectacular freshman season at Cal reached a new high on Friday.

After finishing second in the discus at the NCAA Championships and second at the World Championships, the 19-year-old from Lithuania beat a stellar field to win the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany.

Alekna threw within one inch of his personal best, unleashing a toss of 228 feet, 11 inches (69.78 meters) on his fifth throw to overtake reigning world champion Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia.

Ceh got one more chance to pass Alekna, but fouled on his sixth and final attempt.

The competition featured the six athletes ranked atop the world list this season, and Alekna emerged the winner. He broke the European Championship meet record in the process, eclipsing the mark of 226-7 (69.06) set by Ceh in 2012.

“I am really happy to win the championships,” Alekna told world athletics.com. His first European title came 16 years after his father, Virgilijus, achieved the same feat. “I am still young, I expect that my journey will be a long one. Kristjan is a very strong athlete, maybe today wasn't his day but next year is going to be even better than this one. The rivalry between us will be tough.”

“Today was a great day for Mykolas,” said Mo Saatara, Cal’s throws coach. “He has been working to build up after the big (World Championship) competition in Eugene and put together a great series and performance.

“Breaking the championship record was a huge accomplishment.”

Alekna’s decisive throw was just off his personal best of 229-0 (69.81) that he posted while finishing second (behind Ceh) at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden in late June.

Alekna delivered a consistent series, with throws of 218-8 (66.67), 220-8 (67.26), 219-3 (66.82), foul, 228-11 (69.78) and 217-1 (66.18).

To provide context, consider that Cal’s 30-year-old school record in the discus before Alekna arrived was 210-11.

Ceh. 23, finished second with a best of 224-0 (68.28).

“The best won today,” he said. “I normally can throw 70m easily but today it was around 68m. It did not work for me. Maybe because of the circle, maybe because of the conditions, I do not know. A medal is a medal so I will take it. Congrats to Alekna.”

Third place went to Britain’s Lawrence Okoye at 220-3 (67.14). Okoye, 30, played defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 and ’14.

Sweden’s Simon Pettersson was fourth at 220-2 (67.12) and his countryman, reigning Olympic champion Daniel Stahl, placed fifth at 217-9 (66.39).

Lithuania’s Andrius Gudzius, who finished third at the World Championships, wound up sixth on Friday at 214-7 (65.40).

Alekna, who set the collegiate record during his freshman campaign at Cal, will begin classes as a sophomore next week, Saatara said.

Cover photo of Mykolas Alekna by Kirby Lee, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo