AL Oerter "The Ultimate Competitor"

Al Oerter Few considered discus thrower Al Oerter a threat at the 1956 Olympics, even though the 19-year-old had said he hoped to compete in three Games before he retired. That prospect chilled his rivals after he captured the gold with an Olympic Record on his first throw. "I don't know how I did it," he said. "Everything just went right and this throw came out." Oerter repeated in 1960, then shocked the world in Tokyo in 1964. He had dislocated a cervical vertebra and torn cartilage in his lower rib cage. He was ordered by doctors to stop training six days before the competition. In the qualifying round, he cast off his neck brace, ignored the pain that crippled his form, and hurled an Olympic Record 60.54. Then he came from behind in the final for an unmatched third gold, saying, "These are the Olympics. You die for them."

In 1968, at age 32, Oerter performed his best ever, winning the Mexico City gold with a 64.78. Rival Jay Silvester admitted, "When you throw against Oerter, you don't expect to in. You just hope." That seemed the end. With a full-time job and a young family, Oerter retired in 1969. Amazingly, his lifetime best of 69.46 came 11 years later in his "second" career. At the 1980 Trials, with the American boycott looming, Oerter finished fourth. In 1984, at age 45, he missed the Trials with an injured Achilles. Finished? In 1993 he threatened to try for Atlanta at age 60. "I miss going for something elusive," he said.

Al Oerter

The first Olympic athlete to win four gold medals in the same event, Kansas University's Al Oerter won the discus and set the Olympic record each time in the 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, the last two times despite being injured. As a high school athlete in New York, Oerter set the national prep record in the discus. At Kansas, he won the conference discus title three straight years (1956-57-58), and is the only athlete in history to win nine titles in the same event at the prestigious Texas-Kansas-Drake Relays as he swept the discus circuit in 1956, 1957 and 1958. He broke the world discus record four times between 1962 and 1964. Three times, Oerter broke his own world record, the last time a 206-6 effort on April 25, 1964 at the Mt. San Antonio Relays in Walnut, California. He also won two NCAA titles and six AAU championships. He graduated from Kansas University in 1958 with the 38 best discus throws in Big Seven history. Oerter retired from competition in 1969, then attempted a comeback for the 1976 Olympics at age 40. He was an honorary torch bearer for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. Inducted into the University of Kansas Hall of Fame, and in 1974 became a Charter Inductee to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

-The first athlete to win four Olympic gold medals in the same event (discus) -Set the Olympic record in the 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968 Olympic Games -Set the national high school record in the discus -At KU, won the conference discus title three straight years -Won two NCAA titles and six AAU Championships -Graduated from KU with the 38 best discus throws in Big Seven history -A Charter Inductee to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame -Broke the world discus record four times

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