The men's discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California had an entry list of 20 competitors from 14 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on August 10, 1984.

The 1980 silver medalist Imrich Bugár of Czechoslovakia had won the first world championships in 1983, as well as the 1982 European championships; bronze medalist Luis Delís of Cuba was the 1983 Pan American champion; and fifth-place finisher Yuriy Dumchev of the Soviet Union set the world record in 1983.

[2] The Bahamas, Egypt, Mauritius, and Samoa each made their debut in the men's discus throw.

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final.

In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 62.00 metres advanced to the final.