Mykolas Alekna Still Unbeaten in Discus After Win at Stockholm

Despite perhaps his poorest series of the season, Mykolas Alekna delivered the one big throw he needed to win the discus title at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday.

The Cal junior, who took this college season off to prepare for the Paris Olympics, remains undefeated in five competitions after a throw of 225 feet, 2 inches (68.64 meters) at Stockholm.

The 21-year-old Lithuanian began his season by breaking the 39-year-old world record in the event with a toss of 243-11 (74.35) in Oklahoma. He has won four more times since, including Diamond League victories at Marrakesh, Oslo and now Stockholm.

“The season started really well and I’m consistent at all of the meets so I’m happy with it,” Alekna told FloTrack on Sunday.

He began with a couple of sub-par throws, 205-9 (62.73) and 208-3 (63.49) to find himself far down in the standings. Then he unleashed his winning throw in the third round before fouling on his next three attempts. Even so, he prevailed by a margin of more than six feet.

“Today’s competition was really good. I really enjoyed competing here,” Alekna said. “I’m not really happy with my performance but a win is a win. It’s still good.”

Australian Matthew Denny, who turned 28 on Sunday, threw 219-0 (66.75) on his final attempt to climb into second place.

Hometown favorite Daniel Stahl of Sweden, the Tokyo Olympic champion and reigning world champ, continues to have a challenging season. He is just 10th on the 2024 world leaders list and his throw of 216-10 (66.10) landed him third place.

Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh, the 2023 world silver medalist, bypassed the meet.

Alekna will try to defend his title this week at the European Championships in Rome. Qualifying is Friday morning with the finals that night. It’s the next step in what could be a momentous season for Alekna.

“I have the European championships in Rome. Hopefully, I’ll defend my title,” he said. “The biggest goal of the season is the Olympics — I want to win the gold medal.”