Top 50 Cal Sports Moments -- No. 18: Discus Prodigy, 2024

Just 21 years old, Cal junior Mykolas Alekna trekked to tiny Ramona, Oklahoma on April 14, where he broke the 38-year-old world record in the discus

Mykolas Alekna /

As the Pac-12 Conference era comes to a close after more than a century, we count down the Top 50 moments involving Cal athletics.

THE MOMENT: The youngest silver medalist in the discus at age 19 at the 2022 World Championships, Mykolas Alekna took his game to another level when he erased a 38-year-old world record on his fifth attempt of the day at the Oklahoma Throws Series this spring.

THE STORY: Mykolas Alekna was born in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius, the son of two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna. 

From that 700-year-old metropolis of 500,000 citizens, Mykolas made his way to Cal in the fall of 2021 and since then has competed at Oslo, Rome, Marrakesh, Stockholm and Munich. 

He is expected to be among the favorites this summer at the Paris Olympics.

In the summer of 2022 he became, at age 19, the youngest silver medalist in the discus at the World Championships at Eugene — Track Town USA. Last year he won bronze at the Worlds in Budapest.

But Alekna — redshirting this season to prepare for the Olympics — topped all that on April 14 of this year at Ramona, Oklahoma, a town of barely 500 residents that sits along U.S. 175, a half-hour north of Tulsa.

At Millican Stadium and aided by legal winds that attract throwers to the meet, Alekna waited until the fifth of his six attempts to unleash the longest throw in history — 243 feet, 11 inches (74.35 meters).

East German Jurgen Schult’s record throw of 243-0 (74.08) had stood since 1986 — 16 years before Alekna was born. In more than a century, no one as young as the 21-year-old Cal junior had broken the world record in the event.

“One word — wow!” said Cal throws coach Mo Saatara of Alekna’s performance, which included throws of at least 70 meters on all six attempts — a barrier only two other athletes in the world have attained this season.

“It was an amazing throw, really good conditions, a great crowd,” Alekna said afterward. “I knew the conditions were going to be good and I knew I’m capable of throwing that far, but I didn’t put pressure on myself. I  just enjoyed the moment and it happened.”

* Top 50 Moment No. 19: Riley's Run, 2007

* Top 50 Moment No. 20: Dual Perfection, 1997

Only specific acts that occurred while the team or athlete was at Cal were considered for the Top 50 list, and accomplishments spanning a season or a career were not included. 

Leslie Mitchell of the Cal Bears History Twitter site aided in the selection of the top 50 moments.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo