Al Oerter –The Discus Thrower Who Won Gold Al Oerter –The Discus Thrower Who Won Gold - Sports Freak Al Oerter –The Discus Thrower Who Won Gold in Four Successive Olympics Al Oerter is an outstanding discus athlete for two reasons; one, he overcame the fierce competition of Rink Babka, Jay Silvester and Ludvik Danek between 1956 and 1968 to win Olympic gold medals and two, he overcame his own body which was signaling him to stop to win 4 consecutive gold medals. This made him the first athlete to four-peat in an Olympic event in history. His resilience and determination surprised many of his peers and critics when he entered the Olympics despite rib trouble, neck injury and a pulled thigh muscle. Despite all the handicaps, Oerter went ahead to win on his throws. The goals that he set for himself were high and mighty. For instance, after winning his first gold medal in 1956, Oerter then 20 years of age said he wasn’t going to quit until he wins 5 gold medals.

Oerter Early Life Born in Astoria, New York on August 19th, 1936, Al Oerter –the discus thrower who won gold in four successive Olympics (1956- 68), grew up in New Hide Park where his talent in throwing the discus was discovered early in high school where he threw 184 feet, 2 inches to set a national prep record at the time. At the University of Kansas where he had joined to pursue his tertiary studies, Oerter made a national name for himself by setting a brand new NCAA record. In 1956, he went for his first Olympic Games which were held in Melbourne, Australia while he was a college sophomore. At the Olympics, Oerter who was ranked sixth in the world managed a throw of 184-10.5 breaking the Olympic record and setting a personal best on his first toss. Everything else that happened after that throw was simply academic because no one came within 5 feet of that legendary throw. Moving Past the Pain to Record Wins In less than a year after the historic win in 1956, Oerter suffered a near-fatal auto accident.

However, he recovered and in 1960, he participated in the Rome Olympics where he won a second gold medal and registered another personal best of 194.2 thanks to his American teammate Richard Rink Babka who tipped him on his left hand positioning. On May 18th, 1962 in Los Angeles, Oerter became the first athlete to throw discus beyond the 200 feet mark; he achieved a 200-5 mark. Thereafter, in Chicago in 1962, he threw 204-10.5; at Walnut in 1963, he threw 205-5 and again in Walnut in 1964 he threw 206-6. A week before the beginning of the 1964 games in Tokyo, Oerter suffered torn cartilage in his rib cage while practicing. The doctors advised him to stay away from active competitions for 6 weeks or else he would suffer internal bleeding. However, he ignored the medical warning, showed up for the Olympic Games covered with ice packs and bandages and painkillers.

With a laborious and slow spin, he uncorked a throw of 200-1 winning a gold medal and setting an Olympic record. In 1968 Olympic Games held in Mexico City, Oerter had suffered a pulled thigh muscle and a chronic disc problem made him wear neck brace. He was competing against Jay Silvester who had registered a world record at 224-5 at the U.S Olympic Trials. After a bad throw and a foul, Oerter pulled away his neck brace positioned himself and set his fourth Olympic record with a 212-6 throw. He beat the competition and surpassed his previous personal best by over 5 feet. In 1969, Oerter announced his retirement but in 1980 at the age of 43, he came back to the sport, throwing a personal best of 227-10.5 making him a legitimate challenger once more. Oerter, the self-described “terrible technician” was inducted into the Olympic and United States Track and Field Halls of Fame thanks to his four Olympic victories. He passed on in October 1, 2007.

References “Al Oerter – Olympian, Artist, Gentleman.” Al Oerter – Olympian, Artist, Gentleman. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. “Al Oerter, 71; Discus Thrower Won Gold Medals in Four Consecutive Games.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2007. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. “Al OERTER.” Olympic.org. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. < Why a discus thrower might be a greater Olympian than Michael Phelps Why a discus thrower might be a greater Olympian than Michael Phelps Alex Baker Pin it Share Michael Phelps adjusts his goggles before his heat in the men’s 200-meter individual medley preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. (AP) More It’s a generally held consensus in the world of sports and beyond that American swimmer Michael Phelps – with 18 career gold medals won across three Olympics – is the greatest Olympian of all time. However, Olympic historian Bill Mallon would beg to disagree.

According to Mallon, that honor should rightfully fall to American discus thrower Al Oerter. Mallon’s argument? In his opinion, Phelps competes in swimming, a sport that like gymnastics or track and field, enables athletes to accumulate medals quickly by taking part in a number of different events. But as a discus thrower, Oerter was only eligible to compete for gold once every four years, which he did successfully in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. Mallon, who co-founded the International Society of Olympic Historians , also makes the case that Oerter was never really an outright favorite going into any of the Olympics he competed in. “Oerter never won the U.S. Olympic trials,” Mallon said to Reuters . “Yet he won each gold with an Olympic record and a personal best.” The only other Olympian to win four gold medals across four separate Olympics in a singular event was Carl Lewis, who won the gold medal for long jump in 1984 and successfully defended it in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

But unlike Oerter, Lewis failed to set a new record with each of his consecutive wins. Oerter died in 2007 at the age of 71. According to his personal website , he was “the only athlete to win the same Olympic event four times in a row, setting Olympic records each time.” In Mallon’s opinion, Phelps and Lewis are both in contention to stake a claim as the second-greatest Olympian of all time. The good news for Phelps is that, even by Mallon’s strict criteria, in Rio the American swimmer will have a chance to at least equal Oerter and Lewis’ record of four consecutive gold medals across four Olympics in the same event. Actually, in Brazil Phelps will have two chances to do so twice – in the 100-meter butterfly and 200 individual medley. Although it’s worth noting that Phelps won’t be the only athlete in Brazil gunning for a chance to join the elite bracket of players to have won four consecutive gold medals in the same event. Japanese wrestler Saori Yoshida, 33, will also be in the hunt for her fourth consecutive gold.

And with an unbeaten record in the Olympics and a 13-for-13 record at world championships, she could be regarded as a more solid favorite to join the four-peat club than Phelps is. Reblog ESPN.com: Three-peating wasn't enough for Oerter Three-peating wasn't enough for Oerter By Ron Flatter Special to ESPN.com Fortune Gordien. "Rink" Babka. Ludvik Danek. Jay Silvester. Between 1956 and 1968, they were supposed to win discus gold medals in the Olympics. Al Oerter described himself as the "terrible technician." Al Oerter overcame all of them. Perhaps more impressive, Oerter overcame his own body telling him to stop. Instead, he won four consecutive gold medals, making him the first athlete to four-peat in any Olympic event. Oerter's flair for the dramatic may not have been intentional. After all, who would want to go into the Olympics with rib trouble, a pulled thigh muscle or even an injury that required the wearing of a neck brace? Oerter won despite all these handicaps, twice on his last throw.

Then again, Oerter always set his goals high. After winning his first gold medal in 1956, the 20-year-old brashly vowed: "I'm not going to quit until I win five gold medals." Alfred Oerter Jr. was born on Aug. 19, 1936, in Astoria, N.Y., to parents of German and Czech extraction. Growing up in New Hyde Park, Oerter showed he was a special athlete when he threw the lighter discus used in high school 184 feet, 2 inches, a national prep record at the time. Oerter continued to make a national name for himself by setting an NCAA record early in his career at the University of Kansas. Still, he had never won a major international competition when he went to his first Olympics in Melbourne as a college sophomore in 1956. Ranked only sixth in the world, Oerter unleashed a throw of 184-10 1/2, an Olympic record and a personal best, on his first toss in the finals. Everything else in the competition was academic, since no one came within five feet of that mark.

Not even Gordien, the world-record holder. Oerter finished with the three best throws. Less than a year later, Oerter's hopes for future gold or future anything almost ended in a near-fatal auto accident. But he recovered fully and was back in shape before long. While he made the 1960 Olympic team, he found himself in the shadow of another world-record holder -- American teammate Richard "Rink" Babka, who beat him at the Olympic Trials. That was Oerter's first defeat in more than two years. Although he had one practice throw before the qualifying round that went beyond the world-record marker of 196-6, Oerter appeared headed for defeat when they started firing for real in the Rome Games. Headed into the last round of the finals, Babka led Oerter by 15 inches, 190-4 to 189-1. That lead might have held up had Babka not given Oerter some advice. Studying his teammate's technique, Babka noticed Oerter's left arm was out of position before he threw.

Oerter heeded Babka's suggestion, adjusted his windup and threw the discus 194-2 for another Olympic record and personal best. He thanked Babka and wished him luck on his last throw, but Babka's attempt came up short. Oerter had his second gold medal. He did not set a world record until May 18, 1962, when his 200-5 mark in Los Angeles made him the first athlete to throw the discus more than 200 feet. He set three more world bests -- 204-10 1/2 later in 1962 at Chicago, 205-5 in 1963 at Walnut, Cal., and 206-6 again at Walnut in 1964, the year he and Vladimir Trusenyov of the Soviet Union traded the record back and forth over a 27-day period. Six days before Oerter would compete in the 1964 Games in Tokyo, he suffered torn cartilage in his lower ribcage while practicing. Doctors advised him to wait six weeks before competing in order to avoid the risk of internal bleeding.

But he ignored the medical warning. Danek, a Czechoslovakian who had won 45 consecutive meets, inherited the favorite's role when Oerter showed up for the Games covered with ice packs and bandages and shot full of pain killers. In the preliminary round, he set an Olympic round with a throw of 198-8. Before the competition, Oerter said, "If I don't do it on the first throw, I won't be able to do it at all." In the finals, Oerter was unable to make good on his own prediction when he didn't "do it" on the first throw. He was in third place going into his fifth throw, behind Danek and David Weill. ZONE POLL Previous poll results Laboring and spinning more slowly than he had on his first four tries, Oerter somehow uncorked a throw of 200-1, two feet better than his previous best that day and, again, an Olympic record. Danek would wind up waiting eight more years for his gold medal. With only one strong season in the next four years, Oerter was an underdog again when he went to the 1968 Games in Mexico City.

Silvester finished first at the U.S. Olympic Trials and held the world record at 224-5. In the qualifying round, Silvester broke Oerter's Olympic record with a throw of 207-10, several inches better than Oerter's top heave. But Silvester was dogged by Oerter's mere presence, saying: "When you throw against Oerter, you don't expect to win. You just hope." Again, Oerter appeared in no shape to compete, let alone win. He had a pulled thigh muscle, and he wore a neck brace because of a chronic disc problem. Rain the day of the finals didn't help, either. After a bad throw and a foul, Oerter threw away the brace, as he put it, "to worry the opposition." On his next throw, Oerter set his fourth Olympic record -- 212-6. He beat both the competition and his previous personal best by more than five feet. He finished with the three best throws, adding tosses of 212-5 and 210-1. Silvester came in a disappointing fifth, at 202-8.

Oerter retired to family life after 1969. But by 1976, he was divorced, and his two daughters had grown up. At age 39, he plotted his comeback. In 1980, at age 43, he came up with a 227-10 1/2 throw, a personal best that made him a legitimate international challenger again. That was as close as Oerter would come to his "five gold medals." Finishing fourth at the national trials, he was an alternate on the 1980 U.S. team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics. A strained Achilles tendon prevented him from competing in the 1984 Olympic Trials at age 47. Less than a year before, Oerter had a throw of 222-9, a mark that would have won him gold if he had been able to duplicate it at the Games in Los Angeles. After serving as a computer specialist for Grumman Aircraft Corporation for 26 years, Oerter later worked for Reebok. Recently, he has split his time living on Long Island in the summer and Florida in the winter.

He has been inducted into the Olympic and U.S. Track and Field Halls of Fame. Reflecting on his four Olympic victories, the self-described "terrible technician" of discus said: "The first would be the most surprising, the second the most difficult, the third the most painful, the fourth the most satisfying." Al Oerter - Olympic Legend - SuperSport - Olympics Gold discus Biography Al Oerter was the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympics, a feat which has subsequently been equaled by Carl Lewis and Ray Ewry. The American outlined his dominance by setting a new world record in the process of winning each of his gold medals, proving that he kept getting better. That drive for continual improvement went on even after his initial retirement – in 1980 Oerter made a comeback at the age of 43 and again threw a personal best distance, but that was only good enough for fourth position at the American Olympic qualifiers. He carried the Olympic flag for the 1984 Summer Olympics, and carried the Olympic flame into the stadium for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Event Streaming Golden Olympic Great Oerter Dies : NPR Golden Olympic Great Oerter Dies Embed Embed Golden Olympic Great Oerter Dies Golden Olympic Great Oerter Dies Embed Embed Al Oerter, the discus thrower who won consecutive gold medals in four straight Olympic Games from 1956 to 1968, has died of heart failure. After track, he began a career as an abstract painter. He was 71. MICHELE NORRIS, host: And talk about winning mindset - Melbourne, 1956; Rome, 1960; Tokyo, 1964; Mexico City, 1968. In four, straight Olympic Games, an American won the gold medal in the discus. Each time, it was the same American: Al Oerter. He was the first track and field athlete to win gold four consecutive times. And Al Oerter died today in Florida. NPR's Tom Goldman has this remembrance. TOM GOLDMAN: Al Oerter won modern-day fame in a sport linked directly to the ancient Olympic Games. Indeed, there was an almost mythical beginning to his career.

Oerter was running on a track in high school, when an errant discus landed in his feet. He picked it up, threw it back so far, that the coach convinced Oerter that the little four and a half pound object that looked like two dinner plates stuck together was his future. He got better and better and in 1956, made the U.S. Olympic team. In Melbourne, Oerter hardly was the favorite. But on his first throw, he set an Olympic record and won the gold medal. He would repeat that performance at the next three Summer Olympics. Mac Wilkins, who won the Olympic discus gold in 1976, says one of the keys to Oerter's success was that Oerter loved Olympic competition. And, says Wilkins, Oerter always talked about competing with people rather than against them. Mr. MAC WILKINS (Olympic Gold Medalist 1976, Discus): Maybe that made it easier for him to enjoy the competition and a little less stress. If, oh, I got to worry about this guy and what he's doing and that guy what he is doing, and they're not your enemies.

They're your comrades. GOLDMAN: That was certainly the case in the 1960 Olympics, when Oerter's teammate and world record holder, Rink Babka, helped Oerter win the gold medal. Babka was leading the competition early on and Oerter was throwing poorly. Babka pulled Oerter aside and gave him some advice. Oerter's next throw set the Olympic record and beat Babka, who years later said he was proud it was Al who beat him. Unidentified Man: The Olympic torch is about to be extinguished in a blaze of glory by the U.S. track team. GOLDMAN: Four years later in Tokyo, Oerter won on his own in perhaps his most memorably Olympic moment. He was wearing a neck brace because of a chronic cervical disc injury. He had a torn cartilage in his ribcage from a training accident. Doctors told him not to compete, but Oerter wrapped his side with ice packs, injected Novocain and set another Olympic record. Asked why he went ahead and competed, Oerter said, these are the Olympics and you die before you don't compete in the Olympics.

In a 1986 interview on NPR's MORNING EDITION, Oerter talked about his apparent mastery of the discus as an endless quest. Mr. AL OERTER (Olympic Gold Medalist, Discus): I don't think there's ever been a discus thrower in any throw that they've ever had - and that's millions and millions of throws - who's ever said, that's the best that I can do. Because it's the nature of the sport to say, if I had changed this a little bit, I would've been a better. GOLDMAN: After his athletic career ended, Oerter dove into the world of abstract painting with a similar love and devotion. He once said, never having an athletic coach or a teacher or a mentor in art, everything I create comes from within. Al Oerter battled high blood pressure his entire life. He died of heart failure today in a Florida hospital. His wife Cathy said in a statement, Al always said he would leave this world content and with no regrets. Tom Goldman, NPR News. Copyright © 2007 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc. , an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Olympic Discus Champion Al Oerter Dies at 71 Four For Four | KU History Four For Four October 15, 1968 “Obviously,” announced a Topeka newspaper sports writer on the morning of October 15, 1968, Al Oerter would “need a fantastic toss today to win an unprecedented fourth gold medal.” And indeed, there was considerable skepticism among reporters and fans that the one-time Jayhawk was capable of making such a throw in the final round of the discus event at the Mexico City Olympics. Such disbelief was not unwarranted, since Oerter’s finest discus toss in his entire career had fallen 17 feet short of his teammate Jay Silvester’s best heave.

Silvester, the favorite in the event, had a world record toss still pending from a pre-Olympic meet, and during the qualifying rounds had already bettered the Olympic record Oerter had set in 1964. Nonetheless, despite the fact that he had looked less-than-impressive in the qualifying rounds, as Oerter reclined on his cot in Mexico City’s Olympic Village to rest an injured leg, he was supremely confident in his own ability to collect a fourth gold medal. After all, it was not the first time the 6’4” 260-pound hurler had found himself in the Olympic finals of the discus as an underdog. Twelve years earlier, while a sophomore at KU, the transplanted Long Islander found himself in the discus finals of the 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia. (Oerter, the 1954 interscholastic discus record holder, had wound up at KU in large part because his high school coach, who had gone to Emporia State, had some connections in Kansas and was familiar with the KU track program, which was enjoying some of its glory years under head coach Bill Easton.

In addition, KU was willing to offer Oerter an academic scholarship rather than an athletic scholarship – the latter of which would have enabled the Athletic Department to coerce him into playing football and thus distract him from developing as a discus thrower. In the first year in which he was eligible to compete as a varsity athlete for KU, Oerter had claimed the Drake, Texas and Kansas Relays discus titles.) But he arrived in Melbourne never having won an international competition and was given scant chance of taking home a medal. However, in his very first Olympic toss, the 20-year old established a new Olympic record. He went on to upset his teammate, world-record holder Fortune Gordien, and claimed first place in the event. Exuberant over his first Olympic gold medal, Oerter responded to reporter’s query about his future by insisting that he wouldn’t quit until he had won five of them.

While Oerter’s performance through the rest of the 1950s was sufficient to make him one of the favorites at the next Olympiad held in Rome in1960, two of his competitors, fellow American Richard “Rink” Babka and Poland’s Ed Piatowski had both thrown the discus farther than Oerter ever had. Nevertheless, at the Rome games, the former Jayhawk set yet another Olympic record and found himself a short time later on the center podium with a gold medal draped around his neck. (Oerter would later recall Babka’s giving him advice on his technique as one of his fondest Olympic memories since it embodied the best of the Olympics inasmuch as Babka jeopardized his own chances for a gold medal by helping him. Indeed Babka finished second and his decision to help Oerter probably did result in his having to settle for the silver medal.) By the 1964 Tokyo games, the world record in the discus belonged to Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia, and the Czech stood as the clear favorite in the event. However, Oerter refused to be intimidated by Danek and in a move of psychological gamesmanship deliberately ignored him. Dr. M.

Vanek, the Czech sports psychologist, acknowledged that Oerter’s strategy succeeded in unsettling the world record holder. Even so, on the morning of the discus finals, the former Jayhawk wasn’t even sure that he’d physically be able to compete. While practicing on a wet field six days earlier (and already nursing a dislocated cervical vertebra), Oerter tore “the cartilage off the right side of his rib cage.” Ignoring his doctor’s recommendation to withdraw, and fighting constant pain, he still managed to spin the 4.67-pound wood and metal disc 200 feet, 1½ inches – a toss good for another gold medal and yet another Olympic mark. “These are the Olympics,” he said afterward when questioned about the wisdom of his decision to continue competing in spite of the injuries, “You die for them.” (In witnessing Oerter’s gutty performance, Dr. Vanek “called Oerter a mental giant, totally committed to his objective.”) Not surprisingly, Oerter’s physical and mental toughness turned him into something of a living legend. His victory also permitted him to join fellow Americans John Flanagan and Ray Ewry in the lofty perch of Mt.

Olympus’ greatest heroes as the third track and field athlete to win three consecutive gold medals in an event. (Flanagan, a New York City police officer, won the gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1900, 1904, and 1908 games. Ewry, a teammate of Flanagan in the three Olympiads, took first place all three times in both the standing high jump and standing broad jump.) No one, however, had ever claimed four consecutive gold medals in a single event and as of mid-morning on the day of the 1968 Olympic discus finals, it did not look like the 32-year old Oerter would be the first to do so. Although American newspapers duly noted that the former Jayhawk had “made a career of overcoming the odds in the Olympics,” they downplayed his chances of winning. To be fair to the journalists, it’s worth reiterating that Oerter was nursing a bum leg and his performances to that point in the XIX Olympiad had proven rather lackluster.

That afternoon as Oerter made his way to the field where he would fling his last discus in Olympic competition, the favored hurler, Jay Silvester, showed Oerter a telegram from his hometown in Utah containing 400 or so signatures encouraging the young world record holder to win the event. If Silvester hoped to intimidate Oerter with this tactic, his attempt sorely backfired. Oerter used the opportunity to once again engage in the sort of psychological warfare he had used so effectively against Danek in 1964. “Four hundred signatures!” taunted Oerter, who had returned to Long Island following his graduation from KU in 1958. “It can’t be much of a town.” Silvester reportedly walked away pouting and distraught. (In 1982, still amused by the incident, Oerter told the Saturday Evening Post that he still couldn’t figure out “why [Silvester] ever showed me that telegram.”) As the finals got underway, dark storm clouds threatened to drench the competition in rain.

(Indeed the 1968 Olympiad would be remembered for its foul weather nearly as much as for the civil disobedience of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the winner and bronze medallist respectively in the 200-meter race, who used their moment of triumph to make a defiant statement of Black Power and were subsequently removed from the Olympic Village amidst a storm of controversy for “politicizing” the Olympics.) Although Oerter adjusted his technique for each of the three throws allotted the competitors in the finals, any one of them would have proven sufficient to garner him his fourth gold medal. His longest toss (of 212 feet, 6 ½ inches) was roughly five feet further than his previous best and established his fourth Olympic record, even if it was more than 10 feet shy of Silvester’s pending world mark. Oerter then refused to watch Silvester’s final toss, claiming that he didn’t want to watch his teammate beat him. As fate would have it, however, Silvester finished out of the medal standings. Oerter’s wife Corrine and their two daughters were watching from the stands.

They saw Oerter shake Silvester’s hand and assumed that he had failed in his quest for a fourth gold medal. “The figures were in meters,” Corrine Oerter told reporters by way of explaining her confusion, “and we didn’t know how to convert them.” Later, when she saw her husband being interviewed, she suspected that he might actually have won, but she wasn’t certain until the medal ceremony two hours after the close of the discus competition. In a classic understatement, the man who “stood alone among Olympians” having had four gold medals hung around his neck explained his improbable victory to reporters by saying, “I get fired up for the Olympics. Something happens to me when I get to the games. The people, the pressure, everything about the Olympics is special to me.” He seemed to suggest his retirement from further Olympic competition, however, when reporters pressed him with questions about the 1972 games, which were to be held in Munich. “I’m tired,” he said, and “1972 seems to be very far away.” “I hate to commit myself,” he added, “I don’t want to retire and then come back.” But that was precisely what he would try to do.

With his “goals … gone” and injuries still lingering, Oerter decided after 1968 that he “couldn’t put up with the pressures of trying for another Olympics.” Perhaps overwhelming all of the other motivations behind his retirement was the fact that training consumed lots of time and he didn’t want to miss watching his two daughters (then aged 8 and 10) grow up. Unlike many Olympic champions, Oerter didn’t attempt to become a professional and profit off of his athletic reputation. And so he returned to a relatively quiet life on Long Island where he worked for the Grumman Corporation. (This is not to say Oerter wasn’t recognized for his accomplishments. The 1969 Kansas Relays, for example, were conducted in his honor.) In 1976, however, an interview with legendary sports filmmaker Bud Greenspan for a piece on the “five greatest Olympians of all time” sparked the desire of the recently divorced Oerter to begin spinning the discus competitively once again.

Thus, after an eight-year hiatus, he announced in June 1976 that he had “decided to go for [his] fifth gold medal in Moscow in 1980.” And so began a well-publicized return to what Oerter referred to as his “private madness.” Practicing at the State University of New York, Farmingdale, not too distant from his house in West Islip, New York, he began training. (Oerter trained without a personal coach and in fact had never had one. “I am just a big, strong dude who can throw things a far ways,” he once told the Kansas City Star.) By 1979, he had thrown the discus 219 feet, 10 inches – more than 7 feet further than his winning toss in Mexico City. And in May of the following year, at the age of 43, he uncorked a toss of 227 feet, 11 inches – the longest of his career. By the time the US Olympic Trials got underway, however, President Jimmy Carter had announced that the United States would boycott the Moscow games in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Consequently, the Trials became a perfunctory gesture and Oerter “began taking energies away from [his] training and channel[ing] them toward other goals.” Since he didn’t finish in the top three at the June competition, his performance wouldn’t have been sufficient to earn him a place on the team, although he claimed, “If we had gone ahead with the Games, I would have done whatever work was necessary to make the team.” To his credit and in spite of the fact that he initially felt cheated when he heard of the boycott, Oerter wasn’t bitter about the government’s removing his last legitimate opportunity to win a fifth gold medal. He even continued his training in the hope of making the 1984 Olympic team.

(An injured Achilles tendon would ultimately derail his bid to earn a spot on the 1984 US Olympic squad.) In 1982, The Saturday Evening Post ran an article on him that praised the “45-year old blond giant” as an exception – a celebrity athlete worthy of emulation in an era dominated by greedy, self-important, and substance-abusing “superjocks.” The following year he was inducted as one of 20 charter members of the US Olympic Hall of Fame. In 1988, after more than 30 years of competing against the best discus throwers in the world, the 51-year old grandfather finally stopped competing on the amateur open circuit against athletes less than half his age. The honors, however, continued to roll in. In 1999 the University Daily Kansan ranked him as the fifth best athlete in KU’s history and ESPN celebrated him as one of the century’s top 100 athletes.

While his longevity as a dominant athlete certainly played a role in establishing his legacy, and the toughness that he demonstrated in 1964 made him a legend, it was his improbable toss in October 1968 at the XIX Olympiad that earned him lasting fame. Indeed only Carl Lewis, who won his fourth consecutive long jump crown at the 1996 games in Atlanta, has since joined Oerter in laying claim to four gold medals in a single Olympic event. Together, they form an elite club of two in the pantheon of Olympic greats. Mark D. Hersey Al Oerter facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Al Oerter COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Al Oerter Al Oerter (born 1936) is the only athlete ever to win a gold medal in the same event at four consecutive Olympic Games. He won gold in the discus in 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968. Oerter set and broke many Olympic records. Alfred Adolph Oerter, Jr.

was born in Astoria, New York, on August 19, 1936. He grew up in the nearby town of New Hyde Park, a suburb of New York City, and his athletic talent became apparent early. While still in high school, where athletes used a lighter discus than that used by adult competitors, he hurled it 184 feet, 2 inches, setting a national prep record. After high school, Oerter attended the University of Kansas, where he set an NCAA record. He never won a major international competition, but qualified for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, when he was a college sophomore. At the time, he was ranked sixth in the world in the discus. "Everything Built Up Inside Me" At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he didn't expect to win, since he was up against some tough competition. He knew he had a chance at a medal, however, and resolved to do his best. "Everything built up inside me," he said, according to Cordner Nelson in Track's Greatest Champions.

I really was keyed up and inspired." He looked out over the field, where a flag marked the Olympic record of 180-6 1/2. Then he went into the windup, spun, and released the discus, astonishing his competitors and 100,000 spectators by throwing 184-10 1/2, on his first toss. The distance was a personal best for Oerter, and an Olympic record. The competition was not over, however, and Oerter was still worried about his competitor, Fortune Gordien, who held the world record at the time. "Naturally, I kept my fingers crossed," he said, according to Nelson. "I was always afraid Fortune would beat me. I knew he could." Gordien's best throw was only 179-9 1/2, more than five feet short of Oerter's mark. Overall, Oerter ended with the three best throws of all the contestants-including Fortune Gordien. "I don't know how I did it," he said later, according to the IAAF Website.

"Everything just went right and this throw came out." He also said, according to Ron Flatter in ESPN.com , "I'm not going to quit until I win five gold medals." Oerter was involved in an almost-fatal automobile accident in 1957, but he fought back, recovered fully, and worked hard to get back in shape. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1958, and continued to compete under the sponsorship of the New York Athletic Club. At the same time, he was working for Grumman Aircraft, doing information processing. Although it's difficult for many athletes to train, have a family, and work, Oerter balanced all these responsibilities. He alternated weight training and throwing practice, and didn't compete in many meets. Still, he kept improving. In 1960, he made the Olympic team again, but this time the competition looked even tougher than in 1956. American Richard "Rink" Babka threw a toss that beat Oerter's in the Olympic trials-Oerter's first defeat in over two years.

Returned to Olympics At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Oerter did well in the qualifying round, throwing farther than the world record distance of 196-6, but he didn't do as well in the finals. Babka was ahead of him by 15 inches-Babka's best throw was 190-4, while Oerter's was 189-1. Babka was a true teammate, however, and gave Oerter some advice before Oerter made his final throw. He had noticed that Oerter's left arm was not in the correct position before he threw. He advised Oerter to adjust his windup. Oerter thanked Babka for the advice, changed his windup and hurled the discus 194-2, setting a new Olympic record and personal best. He wished Babka good luck, but Babka didn't beat Oerter's throw. Oerter won the gold, and Babka took home the silver. Although Oerter had set Olympic records, he had never set a world record.

This changed on May 18, 1962, when he threw 200-5 in Los Angeles and became the first person ever to throw the discus over 200 feet. He beat his own record in that same year when he threw 204-10 1/2 in Chicago; in 1963, he threw 205-5 at Walnut, California, and in 1964 he threw 206-6 at Walnut. Oerter was still balancing work, family, and training, and at about this time, according to Nelson, he said, "Technique and strength can be maintained over prolonged periods of time with minimum effort. As I become older, it becomes more satisfying to be able to maintain a world class condition while having a wife and family and a job that's rather demanding." Competed Despite Severe Injuries Oerter was scheduled to compete in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, but six days before the competition, he tore cartilage in his lower ribcage during practice. His doctors told him that if he didn't wait six weeks before competing again, he might suffer internal bleeding.

He ignored their advice, and headed for Tokyo. He was wrapped in bandages and ice packs to prevent the bleeding, and taking Novocain shots to dull the intense pain, so he was not expected to win; onlookers had transferred that expectation to his rival, Ludvik Danek, a Czech who had won 45 meets in a row. During warm-ups, the pain was severe, and he thought about dropping out. Despite his injuries, on his first throw during the preliminaries, he threw 198-8, setting another Olympic record. After this, he said of the finals, "If I don't do it on the first throw, I won't be able to do it at all," according to Flatter. In the finals, however, he didn't throw well on his first few tries and was in third place by his fifth throw. Danek was in first place, and David Weill was in second place. Oerter wound up slowly on his last throw, looking heavy and labored. Inside his mind, however, he had a plan, according to Nelson; he later said, "I was using a slow spin and trying to stretch the tendons to get a little higher.

I had been throwing too low and I was trying a very easy turn to correct the problem. The sixth [throw] was to have been my best effort with a faster turn." He didn't have to wait until his sixth throw, however, because his fifth throw flew to 200-1 1/2, a new Olympic record-beating the one he had set during the preliminaries. His gold medal for this event made him only the second person ever to win the same Olympic event three times. Wons Gold for the Fourth Time At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Oerter was suffering from a dislocated cervical vertebra, for which he had to wear a neck brace, and he had a pulled thigh muscle. During the previous four years, he had not done well, and he was not expected to win. His competitor, Jay Silvester, was expected to take the gold, but Silvester was not as certain. "When you throw against Oerter, you don't expect to win," he said, according to the IAAF Website. "You just hope." Hope was not enough.

During the qualifying round, Oerter took off his neck brace-partly because he knew doing so would ignite fear in his competition-ignored the tremendous pain he was feeling, and hurled the discus to his fourth Olympic record of 212-6. This distance beat his own personal best by over five feet. His other throws included distances of 212-5 and 210-1. Silvester finished in fifth place, with a throw of 202-8. With his gold medal at these Games, he became the only person ever to win a gold medal in the same event in four consecutive Olympic Games. Oerter's win at Mexico City demonstrated his skill at using what many athletes are only now beginning to harness-the power of the mind. Nelson noted that he said, "Once in the Olympic Village you can't improve on your strength or speed. The only thing still possible is to improve your mental attitude. In the weeks before an Olympic competition, I mentally simulate every conceivable situation for each throw. For example, I imagine that I'm in eighth place, it's my fifth throw, and it's pouring rain. What do I do?

An inexperienced thrower might panic or be thinking, "Gees, I hope I don't fall down." [But] I know ahead of time what I will do under every circumstance." Oerter Retired, Then Came Back Oerter retired in 1969 to work full-time and raise his young family. In 1976, however, he was divorced, and his two daughters were grown. He planned to return in 1980 at the age of 43 and threw a 227-10 1/2, a new personal best that allowed him to qualify as an alternate on the Olympic team. He might have reached his goal of five gold medals, but that year, because of political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, where the Olympic Games would be held, the U.S. team boycotted the Games and Oerter didn't get to show what he could do. In 1984, he hoped to compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles but couldn't compete in the trials for the Games because he had a torn Achilles tendon.

Less than a year before, he had thrown 222-9, a distance that would have brought him a gold medal if he had been able to attend the Los Angeles Games and do it again. He said he might try again for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, when he would be 60 years old. He missed the goal-directed life of an athlete, always reaching out for improvement and a new record. "I miss going for something elusive," he said, according to the IAAF Website. "A Soaring, Creative, Competitive Genius" According to Cordner Nelson in Track's Greatest Champions,, Oerter once said, "The Olympics are unique, a world community … what men have been trying to achieve for centuries. There is no job, no amount of power, no money to approach the meaning of the Olympic experience. It's unfortunate they only happen once every four years. They are so special." He preferred Olympic competition to world-record-hunting, and once said, "I don't chase world records. If they come during the competition, fine. But the competition is first," according to James D. Whalen in the Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.

Oerter worked for Grumman Aircraft Corporation as a computer specialist for 26 years, then worked for Reebok. In recent years, he has divided his time between Long Island, where he lives in the summer, and Florida, where he spends the winter months. Oerter once described the reasons he loved competing in the discus throw. "I like the beauty, the grace, and the movement. I can feel myself through the throw and can feel the discus in flight." According to Nelson, Oerter is "a soaring, creative, competitive genius, the like of whom has seldom been seen at any time, or any place, in any sport." He has been elected to the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Olympic Hall of Fame. Books Introduction to the Discus Throw Introduction to the Discus Throw Introduction to the Discus Throw Al Oerter won four consecutive Olympic discus gold medals, from 1956-1968. Tony Duffy/Getty Images Updated August 23, 2016. Technique : As in all throwing events, strength is important in the discus throw.

Equally important are agility and balance as the thrower executes the spins necessary to generate speed and power, while moving from the back of the throwing circle toward the front. The thrower must also make sure not to step outside of the circle - even during the follow through - which results in a foul. Read more details about discus throw technique . What to look for : The throwing circle is slightly larger than the circle used for the hammer and the shot put. The discus circle has an inside diameter of 2.5 meters. Nevertheless, fouling is common. Occasionally, a thrower will be so upset with an attempt that he'll step forward out of the circle, rather than leaving the circle from the back, causing an intentional foul. The circle is surrounded in the back and on the sides by a cage, which is designed to catch errant throws and prevent injury to bystanders. continue reading below our video How to Throw a Perfect Curve Ball in Baseball Any throw that touches the cage is recorded as a foul. In large championship competitions, such as the Olympics or World Championships, throwers qualify for the final by throwing farther than the automatic qualifying distance, or by finishing among the top 12 competitors.

If more than 12 throwers surpass the automatic qualification distance, all of them advance. In the final, each competitor takes three attempts, and then the top eight throwers take three more. The longest single throw wins. World records: Discus is the only event in which the women’s world record is superior to the men’s mark. That’s because, at the senior level, women throw a 1-kilogram discus while the men’s discus weighs 2 kilograms. Both world records were set by East Germans competing in the German city of Neubrandenberg. Jurgen Schult set the men’s mark of 74.08 meters (243 feet, 0 inches) on June 6, 1986, while Gabriele Reinsch established the women’s record with a toss of 76.80 meters (252 feet, 0 inches) on July 9, 1988. Schult's mark is the longest-standing world record in men's track and field history, surpassing the 25-year 79-day reign of Jesse Owens' 1936 long jump world mark.

Olympic Discus Throw Highlights: The discus throw was part of the ancient Greek Olympics, and has been part of the men's program at the modern Olympics from the beginning, in 1896. Through the 2012 Games there have been four multiple gold-medal winners in the men's discus. Martin Sheridan of the United States won two official gold medals, in 1904 and 1908, and also finished first at the semi-official 1906 Intercalated Games. Another American, Bud Houser, earned back-to-back gold medals in 1924 and 1928. American Al Oerter strung together four consecutive victories, from 1956 through 1968, and improved his winning distance each time. Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania earned gold medals in 2000 and 2004, and added a bronze medal in 2008. The discus throw has also been a part of every women's Olympic program, beginning in 1928, when women were first permitted to compete in the Games.

Through 2012, two women have earned a pair of discus gold medals apiece, though each did so under two different names. Russia's Nina Romashkova won the 1952 discus competition, then did so again in 1960 under her married name of Ponomaryova. Likewise, East Germany's Evelin Schlaak took the gold in 1976, and then again in 1980, competing under the name Evelin Jahl. Discus legend Oerter dies aged 71 - CNN.com Discus legend Oerter dies aged 71 Story Highlights American discus legend Al Oerter dies in hospital in Florida at the age of 71 Oerter had been suffering from both high blood pressure and heart problems Oerter is one of only two men to win the same event in four Olympics in a row Next Article in World Sport » FORT MYERS, Florida -- Al Oerter, the discus great who won gold medals in four straight Olympic Games to become one of track and fields biggest stars in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 71.

Oerter on his way to winning his fourth Olympic gold medal in the 1968 Games in Mexico City. Oerter died at a hospital near his Fort Myers Beach home. "Al had dealt with high blood pressure since he was young and has also struggled with heart problems," said wife Cathy. "He was a gentle giant," she said. "He was bigger than life." Oerter won gold medals in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. He and Carl Lewis are the only track and field stars to capture the same event in four consecutive Olympics. Oerter, however, is the only one to set an Olympic record in each of his victories. In Melbourne in 1956, Oerter recorded 56.36 meters on his first throw and watched in amazement when nobody else, including team-mate and world record holder Fortune Gordien, came close to beating him. He came from behind to win again in Rome, and overcame a torn rib cartilage and other injuries to make it three in a row at the Tokyo Games in 1964.

At 32, he was a long shot in the 1968 field headed by world-record holder Jay Silvester. However, Oerter responded with a personal-best 64.89 meters to leave Mexico City with the gold. He came out of retirement and won a spot as an replacement on the 1980 U.S. team that did not compete because of the boycott ordered by President Carter. Later in life, Oerter discovered a new passion and took up abstract painting. Oerter maintained a tie to the Olympic movement through Art of the Olympians, a program he founded to give him and other former Olympians who've taken up art to showcase their work. "Al approached the art world the same way he approached the sports world," said friend and former Olympian Liston Bochette. "He studied it. He analyzed it. And he sought excellence in the arts." E-mail to a friend

Question: Which American won the discus Gold medal at four consecutive Olympics between 1956 and 1968?
Answer: AL OERTER