Cal Thrower Mykolas Alekna's Big Season Ends With Third Place in Rome

The 21-year-old Lithuanian broke the world record and won a silver medal in the discus at the Paris Olympics

Mykolas Alekna / Reuters-USA TODAY Sports

Cal junior Mykolas Alekna completed an historic track and field season on Friday with a third-place finish in the discus at the Golden Gala, a Diamond League meet in Rome.

Alekna, who won’t turn 22 until late next month, broke the world record in the discus in April and won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics early this month.

At Rome, the Lithuanian threw 222 feet, 0 inches (67.68 meters) in the fifth round to climb into second place. But Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh, the 2022 world champion, delivered the winning throw of 225-1 (68.61) on his sixth and final attempt to secure first place.

Roje Stona, whose surprise victory at Paris was Jamaica’s first-ever gold medal in the discus, finished second Friday with a mark of 222-7 (67.85).

Alekna is expected to return to the Bay Area to start his fourth academic year at Cal. He will be a junior athletically, having skipped the 2024 collegiate season to prepare for the Olympics.

A medalist both the 2022 (silver) and 2023 (bronze) World Championships, Alekna opened this season with a bang.

He uncorked a throw of 243-11 (74.35) on April 14 at Ramona, Oklahoma to shatter the nearly 38-year-old world record of 243-0 (74.08) set by East Germany’s Jurgen Schult back in 1986 -- 16 years before Alekna was born. 

No one in the world has thrown within 9 feet of Alekna's mark this season.

Alekna’s father, two-time Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna, is third on the all-time world list with a best of 242-5 (73.88) set in 2000.

The favorite at Paris, Alekna was in line to take home the gold medal until Stona won with his fourth-roundl throw. 

Still, Alekna topped 70 meters in four different meet this year, a plateau no other thrower achieved more than once in 2024.