![]() An artist, he also founded the Art of the Olympians. It was quite a finish for an athlete who first began throwing the discus at age 15, when a discus landed at his feet and he easily threw it back from whence it came.Īfter retiring from competition, Oerter carried the Olympic Flag for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and carried the Olympic Torch into the stadium for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Valarie Allman holds her gold medal on the podium for the womens discus throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Still, he threw another personal-best, 212-6, to win his fourth gold medal. But based on a tip from Babka, Oerter threw 194-2 on his final attempt, another personal best, to again win gold.Īt the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games, it was American Jay Silvester who entered with the world record and Oerter had a pulled thigh muscle to boot. He survived a near-fatal car crash in 1957 and recovered in time for the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, where fellow American Rink Babka entered with the world record. Ranked sixth in the world, he had never won a major international competition before throwing a personal best 184 feet 10 ½ inches to win gold at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games. Valarie Carolyn Allman (born February 23, 1995) is an American track and field athlete specializing in the discus throw. ![]() Successive Olympic gold medals in a single event – setting an Olympic record track and field team at Olympic Stadium - started with, of all things, a plate of spaghetti. He was the first track and field athlete to win four TOKYO - The path to Valarie Allman's gold medal - the first for the U.S. Rarely the favorite and never entered as the world record holder. Was never easy for Oerter, but the path always led to victory lane. The most gold medals won consecutively in the mens Olympic Discus competition is four, consecutively, by Al Oerter (USA) in Melbourne, Australia (1956), Rome. Pain was so rough it destroyed all my feelings for competition for a long “I thought my ribs would fall off,” he said at the The pain was so bad that Oerter was in agony, but he still managed an Olympic-record throw and claimed another gold medal. Again, Oerter declined to heed their advice. Then, less than a week before the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, Oerter slipped during a practice and tore cartilage in his rib cage. Doctors told one of the greatest discus throwers ever that it was time to retire Oerter found another doctor who helped him build a brace. As Al Oerter prepared to make a run at a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the discus, he was bothered by a neck injury.
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