Jürgen Schult

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Jürgen Schult

Schult in 1988
Personal information
Born	(1960-05-11) 11 May 1960 (age 64)[1] Neuhaus, Hagenow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany[1]
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight	110 kg (243 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	East Germany (1979–1990) Germany (1991–2000)
Sport	Athletics
Event	Discus throw
Club	Schweriner SC SC Riesa
Achievements and titles
Personal best	74.08 m (1986)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  East Germany /  Germany Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Discus 1992 Barcelona Discus World Championships 1987 Rome Discus 1999 Seville Discus 1993 Stuttgart Discus 1997 Athens Discus European Championships 1990 Split Discus throw 1998 Budapest Discus throw 1994 Helsinki Discus throw
Updated on 16 June 2015

Jürgen Schult (German pronunciation: [ˈjʏʁɡn̩ ˈʃʊlt] ^ⓘ; born 11 May 1960) is a German former track and field athlete and, from 1986 until 2024, the world record holder in the discus throw. Schult represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic discus competition, where he won the gold medal.

Born in Amt Neuhaus, now in Lower Saxony, Schult 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 (243.0 ft) bested the previous record of Soviet athlete, Yuriy Dumchev, of 71.86 meters (235.8 ft). This discus world record was one of the longest-standing men's world records ever (having surpassed the length of Jesse Owens' long jump record, which stood for 25 years and 79 days) ^[2] but eventually fell 37 years and 9 months later to Mykolas Alekna throwing 74.35 meters (243.9 ft).

In 1988, at the first ever track and field competition between East and West Germany, Schult refused to shake hands with his former teammate, Wolfgang Schmidt, after beating him; Schmidt had very shortly before moved from East to West Germany.

Later in his long sports 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 eighth place.

Schult has a degree in sport, and in 2002 became the trainer of the German track and field association's men's discus team.

Schult represented the Traktor Schwerin sports club and trained with Dr. Hermann Brandt, later he represented the Schwerin and Riesa sports clubs and trained with Thomas Schult. While he was actively competing, he was 1.93 meters tall and weighed 110 kilograms.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  East Germany
1979	European Junior Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	56.18 m[a]
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	5th	64.92 m
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	7th	64.38 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	1st	68.74 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	1st	68.82 m
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	1st	64.58 m
Representing  Germany
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	6th	63.12 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	64.94 m
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	3rd	66.12 m
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	3rd	64.18 m
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	5th	64.44 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	6th	64.62 m
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	3rd	66.14 m
1998	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	66.69 m
1999	World Championships	Seville, Spain	2nd	68.18 m
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	8th	64.41 m

• Track and Field News

• Video of world record
• Jürgen Schult at World Athletics
• Jürgen Schult at Olympics.com
• Jürgen Schult at Olympedia