Virgilijus alekna

Oklahoma Throws Series: In the Olympic year, Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna broke the longest-standing men's world record, throwing an incredible 74.35m to smash the discus throw mark at the Oklahoma Throws Series meeting in Ramona, the United States.

That throw improved the world record of 74.08m set by Jurgen Schult in 1986 – 16 years before Alekna was born – and it formed part of a series of six 70m-plus throws by the 21-year-old on Sunday. The record will be ratified by World Athletics as per the usual procedure.

Competing on a weekend when discus throwers were blessed with perfect conditions, Alekna showed he meant business from the start, opening with 72.21m, according to a report on World Athletics' website. That improved on his Personal Best of 71.39m, which had moved him up to No.10 on the world all-time list on April 6, but still he looked frustrated.