World Record: Jürgen Schult, East Germany 74.08m June 6, 1986 Neubrandenburg, East Germany.
Olympic Record: Jürgen Schult, East Germany 68.82m October 1, 1988 Seoul, South Korea.
The Soviet Union was in the middle of disintegrating during 1992, with
only the Baltic countries fully seceded from the USSR by the time of
Barcelona. Romas Ubartas had been the top thrower of 1991 but had
missed the World Championships, preferring to wait a year to compete
for Lithuania rather than represent the USSR again. Ubartas led the
qualifiers with 66.08, but had to wait until round 3 of the final before
overtaking Schult’s 64.26 by 10cm. Schult regained the lead in the
penultimate round with 64.94, only for Ubartas to respond immediately
with 65.12. Roberto Moya was the surprise bronze medallist, having
thrown 64.12 in the opening round. A bigger surprise was that World
Champion Lars Riedel and Ubartas’s experienced countryman
Vaclavas Kidykas each failed to qualify.