1936-
Four-time Olympic Gold Medal Discus Thrower
Al Oerter was the first man ever to throw the discus over 200 feet, the first of his four world records in a sport he excelled at throughout the 1960s. At the age of twenty, the 6 feet 4 inches, 290 pound sophomore at the University of Kansas was rated second in the world in the discus throw. He had set a national high-school record and had won two NCAA championships. At the 1956 Olympic games Oerter won the gold medal with a personal best throw of 184 feet 11 inches. A Career-Threatening Accident. He returned to college and to a career-threatening challenge. In 1957 Oerter was involved in a serious automobile accident that nearly took his life. He trained furiously to regain his strength, and he never again competed without pain. After graduating from the University of Kansas in.....
This is a free excerpt of 150 words. This section contains 454 words. This
article contains 26,521 words (approx. 88 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our America 1960-1969: Sports Access Pass.
