The stamp's design prominently features a marble copy of Myron's bronze Discobolus (Discus Thrower) statue. Myron, who lived in 5th-century B.C. Greece, was a well-known pioneer of a new school of art that incorporated motion into free-standing statues. In this case, Myron has caught a discus thrower at the peak of his backswing, poised for eternity just before spinning his body in powerful rotations to give the discus even greater speed at the moment of release.

History does not record whether Discobolus recognized a particular Olympic athlete, but Myron is known to have produced other statues honoring specific heroes. In any event, it has evolved into a powerful symbol of the spirit of Olympic athletic competition.

Myron's original bronze statue disappeared long ago, but fortunately a Roman artist made a copy in marble, which today is housed at the Italian National Museum in Rome.

With the advent of the modern-day Olympics in 1896, host country Greece issued a set of 12 Olympic stamps. Two of the issues (Scott 119 and 120) featured the statue of Discobolus.

The next country to utilize Myron's famous work was Belgium, which in conjunction with hosting the 1920 Olympics, issued a semi-postal series of three stamps, one of which Scott B48) featured Discobolus. Interestingly, the surtax on the stamp went not to defray the cost of the Olympics but instead to benefit wounded soldiers.

In 1932, the U.S. hosted both the Winter and Summer Olympics. To mark the occasion, the U.S. issued its first Olympics commemorative stamps-one in January for the Winter Olympics and two in June to mark the Summer Olympics. Of the latter stamps, one was a blue stamp showing the Discobolus statue (Scott 719).