Weisheidinger, when he said that he could not be dissatisfied, said that he was old enough to judge correctly. “I can’t really blame myself. But the only thing I can blame myself for is that I don’t have an outside speed. I tried that, but the others were better.

The stadium audience couldn’t help but wonder. Alegna opened with 68.55m, but Weiheidinger’s 60.02 didn’t make the desired first attempt. “I was lying too much on my back,” he later explained. In the second round, European champion Kristian Cheh clocked 68.41, Denny clocked 69.31 and Alegna clocked 69.97. Weiheidinger brought up the rear and tentatively moved into fourth place with a 67.54.

Things weren’t going to go any further for the European vice-champion and Tokyo third-place finisher that evening. “I can’t be remotely dissatisfied, so it’s a mixed bag of feelings.” European champion Čeh was only fourth, Tokyo Olympic champion and Budapest world champion Daniel Staal was Sweden’s seventh.

“I had to stretch for the medal and I just couldn’t get it. That’s it. I’m healthy and I’ll be back next year. Once you get hit in the nuts, you give yourself another shot. That’s sport. It’s a pleasure to be in this competition,” said the four-time medalist in major events. “I still go home with my head held high, and athletics is a tough business,” Weiheidinger said.

Stona, the 25-year-old new Olympic champion nicknamed “Dullerdandam,” previously finished 19th in the main events at the 2013 world championships in Budapest, and has already thrown 69.05 in a field this year. “I don’t think much about the competition. But after the match, yes. It couldn’t be more true now! Every year something new is added,” said Weihidinger. “We knew early on that there would be an amazing man. But I didn’t expect him to set an Olympic record.