[2] The event was won by Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, the nation's second victory in the men's discus throw.

Lars Riedel of Germany took silver, becoming the 13th man to win multiple discus throw medals.

But Alekna had the best results in 2000 so far, hitting the second- and third-best throws to date (Schult's 1986 record still stands as of 2020).

Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had thrown 63.50 metres or further during the qualification period.

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