THE LONGEST-THROWING 21-year-old the world has ever seen is Cal junior Mykolas Alekna, who at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational spun one out to No. 10 all-time territory, 234-2 (71.39).
No. 10 performer, that is. Only 18 throws have ever soared farther — and the two next-youngest discus men ahead of Alekna on the list had both celebrated their 24th birthdays before throwing farther than the young Lithuanian has. Their names, lest you’re curious: Russian Yuriy Dumchev in ’83 and… well, Kristjan Čeh last year. Surely you’ll recognize the name of the ’22 world champion. Both Čeh and the late Dumchev are posted to the ATL at 235-9 (71.86),
Alekna, the son and heir of discus royal Virgilijus Alekna — who World Ranked No. 1 for 7 straight years starting when he was 26 — has yet to win an NCAA title. Cal throws coach Mo Saatara, who is working with Mykolas through this redshirt, Olympics-mindful season, says his charge will probably get back to the collegiate title pusuit next year. Alekna is a serious student with plans to major in psychology.
First he’d like to take a serious stab at upgrading from World Champs silver (at Oregon22) and bronze (Budapest ’23) to gold in Paris.
Following Alekna’s imposing opener at Hamilton, Saatara, now in his 11th season coaching the Golden Bear throwers, offered observations in a phone interview.
Saatara: Obviously, Mykolas is going through becoming a more mature thrower, the technique is advancing very well. I think he is more rhythmic than he was in the past, kinda figuring out how to work with his throw more. Obviously this takes a very long time. But obviously he’s a very exceptional athlete, so he’s kind of going through the stages of, “OK, now I have the positional points that I need to achieve and know how to move the discus” and how do we put a rhythm together at a very high level to really maximize his ability?
So that’s sort of where we’re at with it and it’s showing some really good dividends.
T&FN: He obviously had a great series and I saw the video of the 71.39. He appeared to release really fast on that one— At least, to my not-a-coach’s eyes.
Saatara: He’s a very explosive athlete. Super, his coordination is great. He has a lot of throwing power and his throwing…
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