Weißhaidinger cracks 65.91 m – final in sight at the World Championships in Tokyo!

Weißhaidinger cracks 65.91 m – final in sight at the World Championships in Tokyo!

On September 20, 2025, the Austrian discus thrower Lukas Weißhaidinger achieved an impressive distance of 65.91 meters in the qualification for the World Discus Throwing Championships in Tokyo. With this throw, the 33-year-old, who was born in Schärding and now lives in Taufkirchen an der Pram and Vienna, has probably qualified for the upcoming final. However, he needed 66.50 meters to qualify directly, which meant he was 59 centimeters short.

In the first qualifying round, Weißhaidinger competed in his third attempt and was able to achieve distances of 65.72 m and 65.91 m, while his third throw was considered invalid. The best in Group A was once again Daniel Ståhl from Sweden, who maintained a clear lead with a strong 69.90 meters. Weißhaidinger took third place behind the Lithuanian Martynas Alekna, who threw 67.16 meters, and ahead of his brother Mykolas Alekna with 65.39 meters.

Background to Lukas Weißhaidinger

Lukas Weißhaidinger, who is 1.97 meters tall and has a competition weight of 145 kg, is trained by Gregor Högler, the sports director of the Austrian Athletics Association. Together with his team of supervisors, including physiotherapist Freddy Siemes and sports masseur Patricia Hana, he regularly follows a strictly structured training routine at the BSFZ Südstadt. His sporting career is characterized by numerous successes; Among other things, he was fifth at the Olympics in Paris 2024 and has already won three medals at world championships, including a bronze medal in Doha 2019.

Weißhaidinger has already achieved a best of 67.03 meters in the current 2025 season. In 2024 he set new standards when he set the Austrian record with 70.68 meters and established himself among the best discus throwers in the world. In the current world rankings he is in 6th place and has been consistently in the top 10 since 2015.

Competition details in Tokyo

The World Discus Throw Championships will be hotly contested, with the final taking place on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. It is expected that the best 12 athletes will compete for the title. Exciting participation can also be seen in previous competitions where 32 athletes from 21 different countries had to compete in the qualifying distance of 66.00m to advance to the final at the 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Paris.

Of particular note is that Olympic champion Rojé Stona from Jamaica achieved a new record-breaking throw of 70.00 meters in the final of the Olympic Games. Weißhaidinger showed a strong performance at the Olympic final in Paris and rounded off his participation with a 5th place and a throw of 67.54 meters.

With the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo, Lukas Weißhaidinger hopes to build on his previous successes and once again secure a place among the best discus throwers in the world. His discipline and dedication make him a role model for many aspiring athletes.

You can find more information about Lukas Weißhaidinger on his website and further details about the 2024 Olympic Games are on Wikipedia) available. Information about the competitions in Tokyo is available at Vienna.at.