Top discus thrower emerges from father's shadow
Young Alekna hopes to continue tradition of excellence
Being asked if your dad is a national hero might have a heady effect on the average college freshman.
But Mykolas Alekna of UC Berkeley is not average—he is the top-ranked men’s collegiate discus thrower in the U.S. He paused to consider his answer in a recent telephone interview, then showed he takes in stride his father’s status as a giant of athletics in his native Lithuania.
“That’s a tough question,” Alekna said. “I don’t have an answer. But he’s well known. Everyone likes him.”
The 19-year-old has a similarly mild-mannered assessment of his own emerging greatness in the ancient field event dominated for many years by his father – Virgilijus Alekna – who used great size and strength to win a pair of gold medals in both the Olympic Games and World Championships.
So far Mykolas is doing it his own way—and already throwing out stats better than what his legendary dad was doing with the discus at age 23.
Virgilijus was a 6-foot-8, 287-pound mountain of a man who towered over most of his opponents both literally and figuratively during an illustrious career. In contrast, Mykolas is a smaller 6-foot-5, 240-pound thrower and former striker on the soccer field who uses speed, explosiveness, and superb coordination to outthrow opponents who can outlift him in the weight room.
“Other throwers are stronger than me,” said Mykolas, who will compete in the discus this afternoon on the final day of the Pacific 12 Conference track and field championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. “So I think I still need to improve my strength.”
Having a great wing span – or longer than normal arms for someone his size – was advantageous for Virgilijus Alekna in the discus, and the same is true for Mykolas.
In simple terms, an athlete with long arms has a longer lever with which to launch a discus than someone with shorter arms. This doesn’t mean all elite throwers have above-average wing span, but those that do can use it to their advantage.
As Mykolas explained about throwing the discus: “Lower body is very important. For discus throw, we don’t even use our arms. You move your legs and your upper body and your arm is like a whip. It’s just for release.”
While Mykolas began throwing the discus five years ago, his dad was a five-time Olympian who competed in 10 World Championships. He won an Olympic bronze medal and two World Championship silver medals in addition to the previously mentioned gold medals from the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and the 2003 and 2005 World title meets.
He had an unprecedented 17-year run from 1996-2012 when he was annually ranked no worse than sixth in the world by Track & Field News, including seven No. 1 rankings. The magazine also selected him as its male athlete of the year for 2000.
On top of that, his personal best of 73.88 meters (242 feet 5 inches) ranks second on the all-time world performer list behind Jurgen Schult, who set the world record of 74.08 (243-0) for East Germany in 1986.
“I started to do sports because of him,” Mykolas said of his father, who has been a member of Lithuania’s parliament since 2016. “I always saw him competing when I was young. It was inspiring so I started to do sports because I wanted to be like my dad. At the time, it didn’t matter if I was a soccer player or in the discus. I just wanted to be a successful athlete.”
Soccer was Mykolas’ passion when he was younger, but a growth spurt in his early teens led to him being unable to find a pair of size 14 “soccer boots” when he was 14. That prompted his dad to ask if he would like to start throwing the discus with his brother Martynas, who was two years older than him.
Mykolas enjoyed the training and spending time with his brother, but he was not an overnight sensation in his mind.
He said he threw about 50 meters (164 feet) with a 1.5-kilogram (3.3 pounds) discus during his first season, and improved to 58 meters (190-3) during his second year.
He threw a 1.75-kilogram (3.9 pounds) close to 62 meters (203-5) the following season before setting a meet record of 69.81 (229-0) in winning the World U20 (under 20) Championships in Nairobi last August.
He traveled from Nairobi to Northern California after that meet and was in class for the first day of school at UC Berkeley.
“They did a magnificent job preparing him as a young athlete so it’s been a pretty seamless transition,” said Mohamad Saatara, the throws coach at UC Berkeley. “Once we got going, he was very focused and dialed in. He was very accurate in training, and very, very coachable. He understands what needs to be done so it’s been great. His technical expertise is very high. He understands things that more experienced throwers do not.”
When Saatara speaks of “they,” he refers as much to Mantas Jusis, Mykolas’ coach in Lithuania, as to his father. Though Virgilijus Alekna accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the discus during his career, he was not heavily involved with his son’s training when they were younger.
“My dad sometimes used to show up at practices and give very good advice and tips how to throw further,” Mykolas said. “But he was never our main coach.”
Saatara, who is in his ninth year at UC Berkeley, figures Virgilijus did not want his sons to feel pressure to live up to what he did during his career.
“His father is very, very relaxed,” Saatara said “There is no pressure on Mykolas. He is very supportive of him and just wants him to be successful. I think their relationship is a very healthy one in that he doesn’t tell him you need to do this or you need to do that. It’s very clear that Mykolas’ main motivator is he wants to be a great discus thrower.”
Saatara’s success in coaching athletes such as Camryn Rogers, the collegiate record-holder in the women’s hammer throw, was one of the reasons Alekna was interested in attending Cal. But he, with the encouragement of his dad and mom – Kristina, a former long jumper – also wanted to earn a degree from an outstanding institution of higher learning.
“He was very interested in our university because of the academic strength of our programs,” Saatara said. “He was very knowledgeable about the school. He asked very pointed questions about different things. It was obvious he had done his research and was well informed.”
Saatara and Robyne Johnson, who is in her third year as the director of track & field/cross country at Cal, expected big things of Alekna. But he has taken the collegiate discus throwing world by storm this season.
After winning the Cardinal Classic at Stanford on March 19 with a throw of 62.63 (205-5) using the standard 2-kilogram (4.4 pounds) discus, Alekna threw a yearly-collegiate best of 66.70 (218-10) to win the Aztec Invitational at San Diego State six days later.
He had a winning throw of 64.97 (213-2) in the Brutus Hamilton Invitational at Edwards Stadium at Cal on April 9 before placing second with a 66.61 (218-6) effort in the invitational portion of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays a week later.
Although Alekna’s top mark at Mt. SAC was nine centimeters short of what he threw at San Diego State, he was ecstatic with his performance for two reasons.
First, his runner-up finish came in a competition that included Daniel Stahl and Simon Pettersson of Sweden, the Olympic gold and silver medalists in Tokyo last summer, as well as American Sam Mattis, the eighth-place finisher in the Games.
Second, it was the best series of his young career at that point, as he also had throws of 65.46 (214-9), 64.70 (212-3), 64.22 (210-8), and 63.87 (209-6).
“It was a very good experience,” he said about Mt. SAC. “I just wanted to do my best. It’s different when so many good people compete in one meet. I wanted to perform well and I’m really excited.”
Said Saatara, “As a collegiate athlete, you’re not going to get a lot of opportunities to see those types of throwers until the summer a lot of times. But to get a chance to compete against that type of competition, and be successful, that was a big deal for us.”
Two weeks later, Alekna had an even better performance when he raised his career best to 67.68 (222-1) on his opening throw of Cal’s annual dual meet against Stanford. He also had throws of 67.52 (221-6) in round three, 67.03 (219-11) in round five, and 67.15 (220-3) in round six.
According to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Alekna’s top mark broke the previous collegiate record of 67.66 (222-0) set by Hans Hopley of Southern Methodist and South Africa in 2004.
However, Track & Field News lists the collegiate record at 68.16 (223-7), set by Julian Wruck of UCLA and Australia in 2013.
The USTFCCCA lists Wruck’s mark as an exhibition performance because it came in a meet that wasn’t run in a manner consistent with NCAA protocols.
Any wrangling about what mark is the true record could become a moot point in the next few weeks as Alekna will throw in the Pac 12 meet this afternoon, the NCAA West Preliminary meet at the University of Arkansas from May 25-28, and, barring anything unforeseen, the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field from June 8-11.
Saatara is elated with the way things have gone this season and admits winning the NCAA title has been a goal for Alekna since he arrived on campus. But he is thinking long-range when it comes to his charge’s training.
He expects Alekna, who currently ranks third on the yearly world performer list, to represent Lithuania when the World Championships are held at Hayward Field from July 15-24, and when the European Championships are held in Munich from August 15-21.
He also feels responsible for laying the groundwork for a gifted thrower who has aspirations to compete professionally after his collegiate days are over.
“He has a strong grasp for the critical concepts of throwing, and he knows what he has to do to throw far,” Saatara said when asked about Alekna’s strengths. “He is a very explosive athlete. He’s probably one of the fastest discus throwers in the world right now in terms of movement.”
When asked about areas where Alekna can improve, Saatara said he needs to gain more competitive experience and get stronger.
“Both of those things will come with time as he gets older” he said. “He doesn’t have a lot of weak points. He’s a very cool-headed guy in competition. And as he gains more experience, he’s just going to get better and better.”
Alekna admits there are times when he can get stressed while competing, but he is able to calm himself down by reminding himself that throwing the discus is what he loves to do.
“I just tell myself to enjoy the moment and breathe,” he said. “Breathe deeply in.”
Although Alekna is undecided about his major, he is enjoying being a student at a major university and being a member of the Cal track and field program.
He misses his family – which also includes 13-year-old sister Gabriele – but speaks with his parents weekly and says learning how to be independent is a “very good thing.”
Nonetheless, he would like to find a restaurant in the Bay Area that serves traditional Lithuanian food such as potato dumplings and cold beetroot soup.
While he still doesn’t feel confident speaking English, he says he has improved a lot in that regard since arriving on campus.
Johnson describes Alekna as a young man who is calm and quiet. One who can appear very serious, but also be fun-loving and friendly with teammates.
“He’s a great kid and an extremely confident competitor,” she said. “He’s a sponge. He tries to soak up everything. He’s already experienced competing on the world stage for his age level and I think that helps him in big competitions.”
Saatara says Alekna is similar to Rogers, who placed fifth for Canada in the women’s hammer throw in the Olympics, in that he has the ability to operate in his own mental environment while competing.
“He’s also very good at responding to performances by other people, which is a great skill to have,” Saatara said. “It’s easy to start pressing or get distracted when a competitor gets off a big throw. But he is able to operate in his own environment and be exceptionally disciplined.”
Johnson adds that because Alekna is so good already, it’s easy to forget how young he is.
“He’s really still a baby,” she said. “I have a son who is 18 so I know there are times when you just have to let them do their own thing.”
Despite his youth, Alekna is certain he wants to throw the discus at the professional level for many years.
His ultimate goal is to join the ranks of his dad, as well as 1992 Olympic champion Romas Ubartas, and 2017 World champion Andrius Gudzius, as Lithuanian discus throwers who have won gold medals in the biggest global competitions since the country of 2.8 million declared its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1990.
“That’s my dream,” he said. “To continue the tradition.”