The greatest Olympian has passed away

[Diuretic]

Al Oerter isn't a household name but he should be. He was the greatest Olympian. The finest discus thrower the world has seen died of heart failure in hospital in Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 71.

Vale Al Oerter.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Actually the greatest Olympian was an Indian that had all his metals taken away because he once played for some money on a team. God can't think of his name now... It will come back to me.

 

[onedomino]

Actually the greatest Olympian was an Indian that had all his metals taken away because he once played for some money on a team. God can't think of his name now... It will come back to me.

You mean Jim Thorp. He won gold medals in the Pentathlon and Decathlon. Amazingly, he played football, baseball, and basketball professionally. His medals were stripped because he had been paid for some minor league baseball. After his playing days were over, he lived in poverty. Long after his death his gold medals were restored. The AP declared he was the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th Century. http://www.cmgworldwide.com/sports/thorpe/

 

[onedomino]

Al Oerter isn't a household name but he should be. He was the greatest Olympian. The finest discus thrower the world has seen died of heart failure in hospital in Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 71.

Vale Al Oerter.

He was great. http://www.aloerter.com/

 

[Diuretic]

Discus was my preferred event in track and field as a young man. Oerter was the finest thrower in the world back then (middle to late 1960s). There were a few who were nearly as good, for example Rink Babka was up there with Oerter but Al was the greatest.