Jürgen Schult

Who is Jürgen Schult?

Jürgen Schult is a former German track and field athlete and the current world record holder in the discus throw since 1986, currently the longest standing record in men's track and field. Schult represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic competition in the discus throw on October 1, 1988, where he won the gold medal.

Later in his long sport career Schult joined the reunified German team. He competed in a second Olympic Games in 1992, getting a silver medal, and the 1999 World Championships, again getting second place. He competed in his final Olympics in 2000 at the age of 40, finishing in 8th place.

After he was unable to compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to his country's boycott of the games, he set a world record in the discus in 1986. As an athlete under the East German program, his throw of 74.08 meters bested the previous record of Soviet athlete, Yuriy Dumchev, by 2.22 meters. This discus world record still stands today and is the longest-standing men's world record ever.