Discus world record holder Alekna at the Golden Oval in Dresden

A world-class field will be at the start of the individual competitions at the Golden Oval athletics meeting. After the three Olympic champions Malaika Mihambo from LG Kurpfalz (long jump), Yemisi Ogunleye from MTG Mannheim (shot put) and Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman from the USA, discus world record holder Mykolas Alekna has also announced his participation in the Heinz Steyer Stadium on June 1, as the organizers announced.

The 22-year-old Lithuanian was the first discus thrower in the world to break the 75-metre mark. In Oklahoma, the Olympic silver medalist from Paris achieved the big throw of 75.56 meters last Sunday. Alekna had already pulverized the 38-year record of 74.08 metres set by 1988 Olympic champion Jürgen Schult last year. Alongside Alekna, Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny will also be competing in Dresden.

New records for German discus throwers

With Daniel Jasinski from Wattenscheid, who won Olympic bronze in Rio in 2016, as well as Clemens Prüfer from Potsdam, sixth at the Olympics in Paris, and Henrik Janssen from Magdeburg, eighth at the World Championships, the German elite will be competing against the world record holder.

Prüfer (71.01 meters) and Janssen (69.94) also set new records last weekend at Alekna's world record throw in Oklahoma and fulfilled the standard for the World Championships in Tokyo from 13 to 21 September.