Gerd Kanter

Gerd Kanter (born 6 May 1979) is a retired Estonian discus thrower. He was the 2007 World Champion in the event and won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and bronze in London 2012. His personal best throw of 73.38 m is the Estonian record and the third best mark of all time.

Gerd Kanter
Personal information
NationalityEstonian
Born (1979-05-06) 6 May 1979
Tallinn, Estonia
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight127 kg (280 lb)
Sport
Country Estonia
SportAthletics
Event(s)Discus
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)73.38 m (2006)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 1
World Championships 1 2 2
European Championships 0 3 1
Continental Cup 1 0 0
European Throwing Cup 6 0 1
Universiade 1 0 0
Total 10 5 5
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2008 BeijingDiscus
Bronze medal – third place2012 LondonDiscus
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2007 OsakaDiscus
Silver medal – second place2005 HelsinkiDiscus
Silver medal – second place2011 DaeguDiscus
Bronze medal – third place2009 BerlinDiscus
Bronze medal – third place2013 MoscowDiscus
European Championships
Silver medal – second place2006 GothenburgDiscus
Silver medal – second place2012 HelsinkiDiscus
Silver medal – second place2014 ZürichDiscus
Bronze medal – third place2016 AmsterdamDiscus
Continental Cup
Gold medal – first place2014 MarrakechDiscus
European Throwing Cup
Gold medal – first place2003 Gioia TauroDiscus
Gold medal – first place2004 MarsaDiscus
Gold medal – first place2005 MersinDiscus
Gold medal – first place2007 YaltaDiscus
Gold medal – first place2008 SplitDiscus
Gold medal – first place2009 TenerifeDiscus
Bronze medal – third place2006 Tel AvivDiscus
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2005 İzmirDiscus

He made his first Olympic appearance in 2004 and established himself a year later by taking the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships. He was runner-up at the 2006 European Athletics Championships and won further medals at the World Championships in 2009 (bronze) and 2011 (silver).

He won the 2012 and the 2013 IAAF Diamond League in discus throw.

Career

He competed at the 2004 Olympics, but did not reach the final. The season 2005 was his breakthrough year as he won silver medals at the World Championships and World Athletics Final, took home a victory in the European Cup and won the World University Games. He also threw more than 70 metres for the first time.

On 4 September 2006 in Helsingborg, Sweden, Kanter threw more than 70 metres in four different rounds (69.46 – 72.30 – 70.43 – 73.38 – 70.51 – 65.88). The best mark of 73.38 m was an Estonian record and the third best in history – only Jürgen Schult (74.08 m, 1986) and Virgilijus Alekna (73.88 m, 2000) have thrown further.[1]

Kanter was the silver medalist at the 2006 European Athletics Championships, finishing behind Virgilijus Alekna, and became the world champion in the discus at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he took the Olympic gold medal with a throw of 68.82 meters, one meter ahead of second-place finisher Piotr Małachowski of Poland.

In March 2009 he won the European Cup Winter Throwing event in Los Realejos, Tenerife, Spain with 69.70 m. On 22 March 2009, he set a world indoor best of 69.51 m in Växjö, Sweden.[2] At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he returned to defend his world title. He had a best throw of 66.88 m, which was enough for the World bronze medal.[3] He took victory in the Wexiö Indoor Throwing competition in 2010, although his winning throw was some way behind his indoor record set the previous year.[4] Still, he started strongly outdoors, having a long early-season throw of 71.45 m in California – the eleventh best throw ever at that point.[5]

He finished just outside the medals at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, coming fourth, but managed to win the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics behind Robert Harting. He ended that year with a season's best throw of 67.99 m at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.[6]

He retired from competition after the 2018 season.[7]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionResult
Representing  Estonia
2001 European U23 Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 5th 57.73 m[8]
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 12th 55.14 m
2003 European Throwing Cup Gioia Tauro, Italy 1st 64.17 m
World Championships Paris, France 25th (q) 56.63 m
2004 European Throwing Cup Marsa, Malta, Malta 1st 63.21 m
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 19th (q) 60.05 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 5th 63.28 m
2005 European Throwing Cup Mersin, Turkey 1st 66.05 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 2nd 68.57 m
Universiade İzmir, Turkey 1st 65.29 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 2nd 66.01 m
2006 European Throwing Cup Tel Aviv, Israel 3rd 62.55 m
European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 2nd 68.03 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 2nd 68.47 m
2007 European Throwing Cup Yalta, Ukraine 1st 65.43 m
World Championships Osaka, Japan 1st 68.94 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 1st 66.54 m
2008 European Throwing Cup Split, Croatia 1st 65.25 m
Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st 68.82 m[9]
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 1st 68.38 m
2009 European Throwing Cup Tenerife, Spain 1st 69.70 m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 3rd 66.88 m
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 4th 66.20 m
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 2nd 66.95 m
2012 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 2nd 66.53 m
Olympic Games London, Great Britain 3rd 68.03 m
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 3rd 65.19 m
2014 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 2nd 64.75 m
Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 1st 64.46 m
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 4th 64.82 m
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 3rd 65.27 m
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 5th 65.10 m
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 12th 60.00 m
2018 European Championships Berlin, Germany 5th 64.34 m

Honours

Orders
Order of the Estonian Red Cross, 1st Class: 2009
Order of the White Star, 4th Class: 2006

References
  1. Butcher, Michael (2006-09-05). Kanter 73.38m in Helsingborg. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
  2. Kanter throws 69.51m world indoor best in Växjö
  3. Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-19). Event Report – Men's Discus Throw – Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.
  4. Augustsson, Bert (2010-03-28). Kanter a little below par indoors. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-29.
  5. Kanter throws a stunning 71.45m in California. European Athletics (2010-04-30). Retrieved on 2010-04-30.
  6. Juck, Alfons (2011-09-21). Kanter throws 67.99m in Warsaw. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
  7. "Kanter retires from competition with a sixth-place finish in Tallinn". European Athletics. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  8. "Archived copy". www.eaa-athletics.ch. Archived from the original on 5 November 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. John Branch (2008-08-24). "Estonia's Kanter Celebrates Gold Medal in the Discus His Way". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
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