Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games:

The discus was thrown from a 7-foot circle without follow, and it was noted "three turns being allowed before the missile leaves the thrower's hand."

The world record holder, and two-time defending Olympic champion, Martin Sheridan (USA), won his his third successive Olympic discus title but failed to match his winning mark from the 1906 Olympics. Sheridan was at this time unequaled as a discus thrower and an all-around athlete. Born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, Martin Sheridan emigrated to the United States in 1900, and quickly became the best discus thrower in the world. He stood 6'3" and weighed 195 lbs. in his prime.

Sheridan is credited with as many as sixteen world records, although it is difficult to be precise in the pre-IAAF period. Sheridan's Olympic fame rests primarily on winning the Olympic gold medal in the discus in 1904, 1906, and 1908. Overall, he won nine Olympic medals, including five gold, counting those Sheridan won in the 1906 Olympics.

Sheridan was a superb jumper and weight thrower, and displayed his other talents in the all-around championship, the early American forerunner of the decathlon. Sheridan entered three all-arounds in his athletic career, the AAU National Championships of 1905, 1907, and 1909. He won each of them easily, and set a world record each time, finally leaving it at 7,385 points, a mark which Jim Thorpe broke by only a few points in 1912.