Why Mykolas Alekna will win in Paris, and how it’s fine if he doesn’t, by Kara Winger
Kara Winger with Mykolas Alekna following his world record discus throw in Ramona, Oklahoma. Winger served as an official at the event.
Hey, it's Kara Winger, TrackTown USA Throws Ambassador! I simply had to write about my favorite throwing story in the world, just ahead of the Paris Olympic Games. Especially after my recent jaunt back onto the javelin runway, and feeling performance nerves again even at 38, I'm so wildly impressed by Mykolas Alekna, the 21-year-old World Record holder in the discus from Lithuania. I threw the javelin for long enough that I get to say I was on World Championships teams when both Virgilijus (Mykolas's Dad) and Mykolas were competing, so while every thrower feels connected to this story, I feel like I've had a front row seat. I haven't. But it feels that way. And I needed to talk about it. Enjoy!
If you’re not a huge throws fan, it’s understandable that you could have missed Mykolas Alekna’s World Record earlier this year. Just 21 years old (and not 22 until September), he’s the youngest of all of the 27 men to have set a world record in the discus in history. His 74.35m throw came in the fifth round of the Throw Town Ramona World Athletics bronze meet held on April 14. All five of his other throws traveled more than 70m as well, an astounding feat of top-notch consistency for any discus thrower. He PRed three times in that series. The record he broke was the oldest one in track and field: 38 years. My own age, as of four days before I had the honor of officiating that incredible competition.
He’s quiet. It happened in a field in the middle of nowhere. There was no mixed zone, press conference, or in-depth analysis by the athlete himself on social media. Just a short interview with Dan McQuaid, some great angles by Throws University, and a few articles (World Athletics, Sports Illustrated, Cal Athletics, and Citius Mag). A biomechanical analysis is in the works, and coaches and avid throwers are still salivating over this early May tweet. You can now watch Mykolas’s Cal Coach, Mo Saatara, break down his technique on CoachTube. Paul Hof-Mahoney did get to chat with the reserved Alekna for Citius Mag, and I just read this endearing Q&A in doing research for this piece.
One of the reasons that chatter about this absolutely monumental event died down quickly is that the new World Record holder just. kept. going. And he seems to have very impressive wisdom beyond his years to be, simply, enjoying the ride.
This is, kind of, just the beginning of a transcendental career. But the most miraculous things about it are a) it didn’t just begin: It was already incredible. And b) it won’t matter if, tomorrow, he puts the discus down. This kid has on lock the things that some of us (ahem, ME) take two decades to figure out: His worth isn’t tied to his results, he’s in it for the fun, and he has noticed when it isn’t as fun, and curated his experience to avoid those traps. This phenom has an incredible, holistically supportive team behind him, he knows it, and is actively grateful for it. This student is fully present in - and continuing to learn from - all areas of his life.
Here are all the reasons he’ll win Gold in Paris. Or, you know, not, and be the same guy.
He has established a history, already, of performing at major championships, and when big opportunities present themselves.
Mykolas was NINETEEN when he earned Silver at the Oregon 2022 World Championships. His toss of 69.27m was second to merely-23-year-old Slovenian Kristjan Čeh, who we’ll get to. Mykolas had thrown 69 meters just twice prior to that performance: To win that season’s Lithuanian National Championship, and then to get second to Čeh at the Stockholm Diamond League. In an event as saturated with talent as the men’s discus is in our current throws world, a teenager had no business on the podium. But there he was.
That same season, Mykolas became the youngest European Champion in discus history, throwing just three centimeters under his then-PB 69.78m for Gold in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
In 2023, he became the youngest athlete ever over 70m when he, at 20, launched the discus 71.00m at Cal’s Edwards Stadium (he’s competing collegiately for the Golden Bears). His results were modest by his standards until, again, he became Lithuanian Champion for the second time, and, again, he made the World Podium in Budapest with 68.85m and bronze.
Ramona, Oklahoma was not a global championship, but an enormous opportunity that captivated the imaginations and hopes of the entire throws community the moment that Alekna’s name appeared on the start list. For Mykolas to step up under all of that pressure and deliver on the World Record dreams everyone had for him? At 21? There are not enough words. It seems simple to him. He seems to have the levelest of heads. But anyone who has ever thrown anything with people watching and expectations put upon them knows that harnessing your own calm under all of those eyes is anything but simple. His ability to perform anyway is amazing.
Perhaps the biggest argument for Mykolas topping the Paris podium to me is the way he waltzed from the World Record to multiple 70m Diamond League victories this year. And while Oslo was not a major championship, his second-best result of the season being a meet record that his Dad (we’ll get to him soon) had formerly held is symbolic of him standing up to that particular kind of pressure that others apply to his career: Living up to Virgilijus. His 70.91 there made a statement.
Mykolas has incredible examples of what’s possible, all around him. He appreciates them, lets them inspire him, and has freaking built on them.
His Dad, Virgilijus, is widely regarded as the best discus thrower of all time. He owns three Olympic medals and four World Championships ones, including two Golds from each of those. He was Top 6 in EVERY major championship final from 1996 to 2012, and on three of the four European Championship podiums in the between years (5th at Europeans in 2010 when he was 38 is the minor blemish in those 16 years, omg). There’s a quote from Mykolas in the Paul Hof-Mahoney Q&A linked above about watching London 2012 on TV, and being disappointed for his Dad that he got fourth with 67.38m. In the same paragraph and clearly the same breath, Mykolas understands that 67 meters at 40 years old is incredible, and aspires to the same greatness. He lived with it growing up. But it informs his dreams rather than crowding them. That’s so cool. To BE a fly on the Alekna dining room wall, discussing technique and competition mindset in what seems to be the most supportive of environments?! The most amazing leg up. Excellent parenting, as it’s clear there was never any pressure to follow in Dad’s footsteps, for any of the kids (Martynas will also compete for Lithuania in Paris).
Mykolas watched his countryman (and eventual fellow Eugene 2022 medalist) Andrius Gudžius and established talent, Swede Daniel Ståhl at the European Championships in 2018, the same year he picked up a discus for the first time at 15, and was inspired to compete with them. When the time came to do so, at a meet in San Diego Daniel came to in 2022, Mykolas stepped up with a 66.70m PR to get second to the Tokyo Olympic Champion. That same season, another young phenom was making a name for himself: Kristjan Čeh didn’t just throw 70 meters a lot, he typically did it in stadiums, and at meets that mattered. He’d burst onto the international scene in 2020, with a five-meter jump from 2019 and from 20 years old to 21. Kristjan Čeh was very nearly Mykolas Alekna, just during COVID, and without the famous Dad. His dominance in 2022 at 23 years of age had to be encouragement to the young Alekna: I imagine him thinking, “I can do that, too.” And he kept on keeping on.
He bounces back from stuff.
Mykolas Alekna, the World Record Holder in the men’s discus, has not yet won an NCAA title. He was second in 2022 and third in 2023, both with, it should go without saying, some of his worst marks of each season. And each season, he went on to earn a bunch of other stuff, including in both cases a Lithuanian title and a World Championships medal.
If you watch the Throws University video of Mykolas’s series in Ramona this year, you’ll see frustration in round 1. The guy everyone wanted to see break the world record had the strongest reaction anyone has ever seen him have to that throw, and a) it still went 72.21m but b) he buckled down, didn’t let himself lean into that bit of struggle, and delivered the series of anyone’s lives after that blip on the emotional radar. The composure he showed was astounding.
Mykolas rolls with the punches. Which means that his bronze in Rome at this year’s European Championships will only spur him on to further greatness.
The consistency Mykolas has shown this year is unmatched.
While an Olympic year definitely sees people bring their best at The Games themselves, Mykolas’s four competitions over 70m in 2024 is difficult to argue with. That number would be 5 if his first PB of the year, 71.39m, were recorded anywhere. Why it isn’t (from a meet at home at Cal) is a mystery to me, but should remain a source of confidence. His consistency in other seasons and ability to show up at major championships in the last few years also indicate that there is more in the tank! Even in poor conditions (which the recent FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands reportedly sported), he can reach 68+ meters darn reliably. Three Diamond League wins of three so far this year is formidable. The other meet record that Dad Virgilijus holds that Mykolas might be interested in breaking? The 69.89m Olympic Record, set when Mykolas was 2 in the course of Dad winning his second straight Olympic Gold.
Consistency isn’t everything, and the past two Worlds winners (Čeh and Ståhl) both threw 71m to get the job done. But with all this confidence building up with all these 70m throws all season? Mykolas could absolutely win his Olympic debut.
The way that everyone around Mykolas supports him as a whole human.
The Alekna family clearly just loves each other. Supports each other. In whatever way each of them need. Values education as much as or more than Olympic medals. Likes to fish. Virgilijus provides guidance to both his discus-throwing sons, but never pushes them. An incredible resource, but mostly, a loving Dad. It seems romanticized in terms of idyllic family life but, also, true.
Mantas Jusis of Jusis Training in Vilnius, Lithuania started Mykolas on his discus path at home. They figured stuff out, and quickly. Mohamad Saatara, a treasure, fully supports and participates in that continued coach-athlete relationship as he helps guide Mykolas on American soil at Cal. Coaches can be egotistical and possessive, but the exact opposite is true of this scenario: It’s a joy to watch an athlete’s best interests kept in mind by all parties.
I’ve read articles that mention Mykolas’s friends at Cal. How he doesn’t talk much unless he’s around them, sitting in the stands after a meet and just casually being a college kid. Friendship. It’s important. And I bet he didn’t lead with, “I’m the best discus thrower in the world” when he met those fellow students. They like him for him.
The holistic support of this guy is obvious, and precious, and needs to be protected at all costs. It’s something every human being should aspire to gather around themselves. What an awesome place to keep growing within.
Mykolas, who I first got to meet after we both became World Medalists for the first time in Eugene, earning the same color bauble, has such a big fan in me. He was 19. I was 36. Join me in cheering on this generational talent, whose level-headedness, humility, clear gratitude for his family and support system, obvious respect for and from competitors, and simple love of what he does make him worthy of role model status for any aspiring athlete. I believe we’ll always be left wanting more from this guy: The lack of flash, simplicity in describing his own technique, disciplined-rather-than-fiery, matter-of-fact way he goes about being the best in history is just cool. I believe he’ll win Gold in Paris. But if he doesn’t, he’ll be more than fine. Neat.
Kara Winger with fellow official Lionel at the ThrowTown Ramona event, where Alekna broke the world record
Moments I will always remember from (Mykolas’s First?) World Record Day:
Mykolas, peeking out from his hat, asking me how much warm-up time was left for the third of three flights.
The murmur-excited sound the crowd made after I announced that his frustrating first attempt was a massive 72.21m.
How it felt to whisper re-ordering stuff excitedly with Axton Ors, the Seal Throwing Club athlete who monitored live results all three days of that weekend. It took 66.28m to be Top 8 at a mid-April meet in the middle of Oklahoma.
Cherishing hearing “74.41m” from Lionel, my fellow Official operating the laser that day, after Round 5. The way we grinned at each other before he re-measured to make sure was one of those moments that will forever connect you to a fellow human. True appreciation for just being there. And my hands immediately shook.
My quads burning as I made sure there was no twist in the steel tape we used to verify the mark, squat-hustling from 74 meters to the ring, holding the tape between my fingers an inch from the ground the whole way.
Being told, later, by multiple competitors, that they saw just a bit of overwhelm, slightly more emotion than typical in the 21-year-old’s eyes. That these older men had celebrated him, wanted to build him up as he rightfully deserved, but also protected his peace by noticing and breaking up that overwhelming attention. Letting him savor it in his own way. Giving him space. And watching him record yet another 70m mark to truly solidify his greatness. The emotional intelligence of the entire group was incredible to understand.
Watching Mykolas turn back into as much of a kid as he lets the world see these days after the meet was over. I always think there’s more of a joke behind his relaxed expressions than most of the world gets to experience, and that’s perfect.
The Men’s Discus Final is set for Wednesday, August 7 at 11:25 a.m. Pacific time, streaming live on Peacock.