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Olympic discus great Oerter dies at 71
Associated Press ^ | 10/2/2007 | Yahoo News

Posted on 10/02/2007 8:29:53 AM PDT by Young Werther

Edited on 10/02/2007 8:38:16 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Al Oerter was destined to become an athlete, although he often wondered what he might have been if not for a chance meeting with a discus.

"I could throw a baseball, a football or a golf ball a country mile," Oerter told the Associated Press in an interview last year. "It was just easy to throw anything."

The discus great who won gold medals in four straight Olympics to become one of track and field's biggest stars in the 1950s and '60s, died Monday of heart failure, less than two weeks after his 71st birthday.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: discus; goldmedal; hero; yesterday
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To: Uncle Hal

Yep Bob Hoffman of York Barbell used to feature him in his S&H magazines

Bob Hoffman probably had more influence on athletes in this country than ANYONE

He was always featuring weight training for all classes of sporting events and running articles about athletes like O’ Brien—Mal Whitfield— Stan Jones—Bob Richards—Fortune Gordien etc in the early 50s when the vast majority of coaches frowned on weight training as making you muscle bound

Hoffman continued his crusade and look at where we are now


21 posted on 10/02/2007 1:14:02 PM PDT by uncbob (m first)
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To: Young Werther

Oerter was one of the greats, long before sports, even the Olympics, were ruined by “professionals.” Pure talent, and always seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. His inspiration will be missed.


22 posted on 10/02/2007 1:28:30 PM PDT by TrueKnightGalahad
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To: ConservativeDude; tickmeister
Oerter & Lewis share the record for (4) consecutive Olympic golds in the same event.

As tickmeister pointed out, Oerter set Olympic records each time. Lewis did not (no one has bested Bob Beamon's 1968 Mexico City effort).

But were it not for Lewis, Oerter would have I think the record in track and field for consecutive Olympic golds.

23 posted on 10/02/2007 1:31:54 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("Everyone knows there's a difference between Muslims and terrorists. No one knows what it is, tho...)
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To: Ready4Freddy

no one has bested Bob Beamon’s 1968 Mexico City effort”

Actually, Mike Powell currently holds the world record. He broke it in the 1992 world championships in a showdown with Lewis.


24 posted on 10/02/2007 1:51:04 PM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: Ready4Freddy

But you are correct in that Beamon’s olympic record stands, absolutely.


25 posted on 10/02/2007 1:57:06 PM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: ConservativeDude
But not the Olympic record, which we were discussing. Powell set the world mark in 1991, btw.

Actually, Mike Powell currently holds the world record.

26 posted on 10/02/2007 1:59:45 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("Everyone knows there's a difference between Muslims and terrorists. No one knows what it is, tho...)
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To: ConservativeDude

Sorry, guess we cross-posted. Should have made my statement more clear re: Olympic record.


27 posted on 10/02/2007 2:06:27 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("Everyone knows there's a difference between Muslims and terrorists. No one knows what it is, tho...)
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To: Ready4Freddy

we are on the same page now, for sure.

In any event, Oerter, Lewis...both of these guys are amazing.

But Oerter was the original. No doubt about it.


28 posted on 10/02/2007 2:21:28 PM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: Ready4Freddy

Also...I saw Carl Lewis run in person once. It was at the 84 Olympics in LA. He was the anchor on the 4x100 that broke the world record then. All four of our guys were amazing. It was truly astonishing to see how much ground they covered in such little time.

I wish I could have seen Michael Johnson run in person.


29 posted on 10/02/2007 2:24:31 PM PDT by ConservativeDude
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