In a sport written about in ancient Greek literature, no one has thrown a discus as far as Mykolas Alekna. Not even his father, a two-time Olympic champion and a former Olympic record holder in the event, nor anyone in The Odyssey and The Iliad.

It was in April 2025 that Alenka became the first man to throw further than 75 meters in the discus, brilliantly twice breaking his own world record in Ramona, Okla., a small town known as ‘Throw Town’ because of its propensity to produce favorable conditions for throwing.

The event was not without controversy — a Swedish commentator said “weather doping” was a contributing factor to five men clearing 70m, such was the strength of the wind. But, as Alekna says, it was “all according to the rules” in event that has “no way to measure the wind.”

“I don’t really care what people say. I’m still happy with the record, and people still go there to try to set a new record, but no one has done it after me yet,” he says over a video call from his home in Lithuania.

Although Alenka, whose world record stands at 75.56m, is following in his father Virgilijus’s footsteps, he is carving his own path. His achievements certainly put him in the sporting prodigy category: At 19, he became the youngest men’s European discus champion; at 22, he broke a discus world record which had stood since 1986.

In winning silver at the Paris Olympics, he surpassed his father’s Olympic record of 69.89m by eight centimeters. And this week, the two-time world silver medalist competes at the European Championships in Birmingham, England, hoping to do something else his father never achieved — retain his European title.

Virgilijus’s Olympic record had stood for 20 years before his son and eventual 2024 Olympic gold medalist Roje Stona surpassed the mark in Paris. Has his success surprised his father, the 2000 and 2004 Olympic champion?

“For sure,” says Alekna. “I don’t think anyone expected me to do this well because I started a little later. I wasn’t maybe the most talented kid at the start, but then later, I progressed really fast.”

Mykolas Alekna competing at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, where he won silver. (Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images)

Born in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, the 23-year-old idolized his father, but as a young teenager he mostly played soccer, his favorite sport.

“I wasn’t the tallest kid,” he explains. “Discus athletes are usually really tall and strong, but I started maturing a little later. When I was 13 or 14, I was still short, so I never had a plan to become a discus thrower.

“Later, I started growing, and at 15 or 16 I switched and tried discus for the first time. My brother (Martynas) was already throwing, so I joined him.

“My dad is really happy that my brother and I are doing well and continuing our family’s tradition.”

His sister, Gabriele Aleknaite, has recently taken up the sport, too. He credits his father’s influence for helping provide him with a solid technique which, he says, is the “biggest part” of the sport.

“The first two years are the most important for discus throwers because that’s when you learn all the basics and technique,” he says.

“You need to have a really good base, and then you can add power, add strength. But as long as you have technique, you should be fine. So the first couple of years is when I did the most work.

“My dad would always help me out when I had questions. I had another coach, which was my main coach. But my dad would always be next to them when I started.”

Mykolas Alekna won silver at the Paris Olympics. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Alenka was two when his father won his second Olympic gold with a record-breaking throw in Athens. Athletes these days throw further — in 2026, nine men have already broken the 70m-mark, as opposed to two having done so in 2004 — but Alekna says the technique in the two eras is “almost the same.”

“The key part that has changed through the years is that training involves a lot of explosive work,” he says.

“I lift way less. I do fewer Olympic lifts than my dad and the other throwers used to because we do a lot more specific strength rotational exercises. They used to train for maximum strength, but now we try to develop explosive power instead of just strength in general.”

Despite appearing at the ancient Olympics and being part of modern games since the first edition in 1896, discus is not regarded as a box-office sport. He spends his summers and Christmases in Lithuania, where he is a four-time Sportsperson of the Year and often recognized.

But away from home, life is quite different. He mainly lives in the U.S. — he transferred to Oregon from the University of California, Berkeley in 2025 — and goes largely unnoticed.

Field athletes don’t tend to profit from Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals to the same extent as their peers in other sports, but Mykolas, without disclosing figures, says “there are ways to benefit.”

“Because there are so many athletes, I’m just a regular student that does athletics. No one really notices me, so I actually enjoy it because when I go back to Lithuania, people recognize me and my lifestyle is a little different compared to a regular student-athlete in America,” he says.

“In other countries, everyone forgets about smaller sports or events like discus. I’m fine with it. I find that it’s a niche sport, but I still enjoy doing it.”

Sports is filled with stories of sons and daughters trying to emulate or surpass the achievements of their parents. Some have done so successfully, others have struggled to reach such heights.

“I think I have my own story, so I don’t feel that much pressure. I just try not to think about it, not compare myself to him, and I think that helps a lot,” he says.

As he enters his third senior season, Alenka is aiming to add more titles to the family name. Despite spending the last few months in Lithuania recovering from surgery in March on a torn pectoral muscle, he made an impressive return to competition at the Lithuanian championships on July 25, throwing 72.65m — the third-longest throw of the year.

“I want to win again,” he says. “I want to win as many medals as I can, and the European Championship is the main goal this year, so I’ve been training hard to win it. It’s always exciting to win a medal because it shows how much work you’ve put in and you are finally recognized for it.”

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce received another platelet-rich plasma injection in his left ankle, according to a source with knowledge of the matter who spoke anonymously Monday because they were not authorized to speak publicly. This is the second time this offseason Pierce has received a PRP injection in his left ankle. The first one was before Pierce underwent left ankle surgery in March, and the second came after the procedure.

Pierce did not have a setback, the source said. He received the second PRP shot in late June to alleviate soreness and speed up his rehab, which the source emphasized is “not abnormal.” Pierce said in June that when he initially received a PRP injection at the end of last season, he faced a six-to-eight-week recovery. It’s unclear how long Pierce’s recovery is this time around, as the source did not specify.

The Colts retained Pierce on a four-year, $114 million contract in March, which is the richest free-agent receiver contract in NFL history. He is now the 15th-highest-paid wideout in the league based on annual salary.

General manager Chris Ballard said in March that the team was aware of Pierce’s lingering left ankle issue before he was rewarded with a new deal. But since getting a massive raise, Pierce has yet to practice.

Pierce said in June he was in the midst of a four-to-six-month recovery timeline after undergoing left ankle surgery in late March. He is now more than four months into his rehab. Ballard provided an update on Pierce the day before training camp started in July, saying his team’s top wideout was “close” and “probably still a week or two away” from practicing. But the Colts are now two weeks into training camp, and the team has had no further updates.

“Not right now,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said last week when asked whether he had any new info on Pierce. “His rehab’s going great, I’ll say that. I don’t have a timetable on his return, but he’s doing a hell of a job in his rehab process.”

Pierce said in June he underwent surgery to alleviate what he described as increasing “discomfort” in his left ankle. He’d been managing the issue since the 2024 season. Pierce never disclosed what was causing the discomfort nor what the surgery was specifically done to correct.

Pierce said he originally tried to avoid surgery altogether by getting a PRP shot at the end of last season, but when that didn’t offer much relief, he moved forward with surgery.

“Usually, Fridays would be pretty tough because we had just practiced Wednesday (and) Thursday,” Pierce said in June. “I understand I’m not gonna feel 100 percent (during the season), and I was kind of fine. But I knew once I got to the game day and I was still not feeling great, just a lot of discomfort, that’s when I knew it was probably … something I needed to figure out.

“I ended up just talking with the doctors and talking about the risks that I had,” Pierce continued. “I think that was another (factor) where I was like, ‘OK, you need to get this fixed. You need to get this addressed for the long term.’”

Pierce is poised to take over as the Colts’ No. 1 receiver, especially after the team traded veteran Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March. Pittman led the Colts in receptions in four of the past five seasons. Pierce, meanwhile, has emerged as arguably the best deep threat in the NFL. He’s led the league in yards per reception in back-to-back seasons (22.3 in 2024 and 21.3 in 2025). What’s more, Pierce totaled 1,003 yards and six touchdowns on just 47 catches last year. He is only the third receiver in the last 30 years to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a single season on fewer than 50 catches, joining Mike Williams (2019) and DeSean Jackson (2010).

Retaining Pierce and quarterback Daniel Jones, whom Indianapolis re-signed on a two-year, $88 million deal, were the Colts’ top two offseason priorities. They played vital roles in the Colts’ dominant offense amid an 8-2 start in 2025, before Jones fractured his left fibula and eventually ruptured his right Achilles tendon. Jones was one of several key players who suffered injuries, which led to a seven-game losing streak to end last season. However, the Colts believe they can replicate that first-half success from 2025, so long as they get healthy and stay healthy in 2026.

“I think we truly had something special going, and I know we didn’t finish the way we want to finish,” Pierce said after he inked his new contract in March. “But I think I’m able to look back to that and look at how we were playing and know that we can be the best team in the NFL.”

Hope-Bell, Edwards and Wallace made first team debuts, as did batter Callum Nicholls, 22, and Australian paceman Connor O’Riordan, whose bid to develop in Wales after missing out in New South Wales echoes the example of county stalwart Timm van der Gugten.

Wicket-keeper Alex Horton, 22, was the top run scorer.

Nicholls and Hope-Bell played major roles in the dramatic closing win over Worcestershire, with Pontarddulais product Edwards marking his potential by taking three wickets after being thrust into the squad because of injuries.

“Of the younger lads, Jack Hope-Bell has been impressive throughout the tournament and showed again [against Worcestershire] he’s got a future here,” said Harrison.

“Callum Nicholls has had a couple of scores and to get 70 in a chase was really good. There’s a lot of experience for some of the younger players and it’s shown we’ve got a bright future ahead.”

Glamorgan are far from unique in blooding youngsters in the One Day Cup while some of their star names are away at the Hundred franchise tournament, but the perennial ambition to have a Welsh core to the team looks closer to fulfilment than has been the case since the noughties.

As well as those used, 18-year-old seam bowler Tom Norton – a breakout star of recent Championship games – missed the competition because of a back problem which will probably keep him out for the season, while batter Jacob Blades recently played for England under-19s at the age of 17.

“You’ve always got to plan for the future and this competition gave us that opportunity to develop a few of our players, playing against Ben Stokes for Durham is a great experience when they’ve watched him on TV playing for England.”

Captain Andy Gorvin, the oldest player at 29 for several matches, was compared to a school-teacher in charge of the youngsters by one opposition commentator.

“My family did tell me about that! I try to help in whatever way I can and when it doesn’t go right, it’s how to keep the guys going,” said Gorvin.

“The most important thing about sport is having the resilience to come back the next day. They’ve always tried to improve, it’s a three-week block with eight games so you improve on the job and I’ve tried to guide as well as I can, and I’ve got to improve as well.”