Roje Stona of Jamaica in Olympic action during the Men's Discus Throw Final at Stade de France.
PARIS-- Jamaica's Roje Stona won gold in the Olympic discus throw on Wednesday, upsetting world record holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania to claim his country's first-ever medal in the event at the Games. Alekna, who had hoped to follow in his father's footsteps to become Olympic champion, had to settle for silver and Australian Matthew Denny claimed the bronze. Alekna was favourite having thrown 74.35 metres in April to break the world record that had stood since 1986. Warming up with a first throw of 68.55, he then hurled the discus 69.97 to break the Olympic record his father Virgilijus Alekna had set 20 years ago. That mark did not last long, though, as Stona responded with a throw of 70.00 metres which Alekna failed to beat in his next two attempts. "I knew I had nothing to lose so I just went for it," Stona told reporters. For Jamaica, best known for its sprinters, it was the second throwing medal of the Paris Olympics after Rajindra Campbell won bronze in the shot put. Jamaica has had other field event success, with silver medals in the women's triple jump and men's long jump. "The track gets a lot of attention but the field events have been on the rise and we should get more support," Stona said. Denny's bronze, meanwhile, put an end to run of frustrating fourth places - at the Tokyo Olympics and last year's world championships. Sweden's Daniel Stahl, the defending Olympic champion and world champion, finished seventh with 66.95.
