New Jersey's Sam Mattis delivered one of the greatest performances in U.S. track and field history on Thursday when he sent the saucer soaring 237-8 to break the American record in the discus at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in Ramona, Okla.
The massive heave by Mattis, a 2012 graduate of East Brunswick High in NJ, came on his second attempt and it took down the 45-year-old USATF recognized American record of 237-4 that Ben Plucknett set on July 7, 1981, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mattis is the first NJ high school male graduate to hold an American track and field record since the legendary Carl Lewis out of Willingboro High set the American and World Record of 9.86 in the 100-meter dash at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. Lewis held the World and American records until Leroy Burrell ran 9.85 in Switzerland in 1994.
Mattis, a 2-time Olympian, finished fourth on Thursday in the greatest discus competition of all-time as six throwers went beyond 230 feet in the same meet for the first time ever.
Matt Denny of Australia, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, finished first with a world-leading 242-11. Steven Richter of Germany was second (242-9). Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia, the 2022 World Champion, finished third with a national record 238-2, Mattis was fourth with his 237-8, and reigning Olympic champion Roje Stona, a native of Jamaica, threw a personal best 231-10 to place fifth.
In addition to his 237-8, Mattis had throws of 225-9, 232-3, 212-2, and 223-9 and one foul.
The 6-1, 245-pound Mattis, who smashed his previous personal best of 233-10 that came at this meet last year, has been rewriting record books since he was 13 years old!
At East Brunswick High, Mattis burst onto the scene with a 169-6 throw in his very first high school meet at the 2009 Colts Neck Relays, setting a New Jersey freshman record. He went on to win three straight NJSIAA Meet of Champions titles and established the still-standing state record of 218-4 in 2012 at the Greater Middlesex Conference Relays.
After graduating from East Brunswick, Mattis went on to star in the circle at the University of Pennsylvania, where he won the 2015 NCAA Championship, and in 2016 he broke the American Collegiate Record with a heave of 221-3.
Since turning pro, Mattis has won two U.S. Outdoor Championships in the discus (2019, 2023), placed 8th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and he finished second at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials to make his second U.S. Olympic Team.
Now, at 32 years old, Sam Mattis stands alone as the owner of the farthest discus throw ever by an American, cementing his place among the all-time greats in the sport.
