Discus throw, women

What to remember

On July 9, 1988, at the tournament between East Germany and Italy in Neubrandenburg, Gabriele Reinsch sent the discus out to 76.80 m. That was 2.24 m further than the 74.56 m mark set in 1984 by Czechoslovakia's Zdeňka Šilhavá. Her throw also beat by 2.72 m the men's record of fellow East German Jürgen Schult, with an implement half as heavy: the women's discus weighs 1 kg.

The discus goes back to ancient Greece, where it was one of the events of the pentathlon. For women, Poland's Halina Konopacka threw 39.62 m in 1928, Germany's Gisela Mauermayer 48.31 m in 1936 and the Soviet thrower Nina Dumbadze 57.04 m in 1952. Liesel Westermann passed 63.96 m in 1969 and Evelin Jahl 70.72 m in 1978. Between 1928 and 1988 the distance grew by 93.8%.

Born on September 23, 1963, Reinsch began competing at the age of 14, first in the high jump and shot put, placing second in the shot at the 1981 junior European championships. She switched to the discus in 1982 and represented East Germany at the 1988 Olympic Games.