Our sport lost one of its heroes this week. He first made his mark by winning the Olympic gold at Melbourne in 1956 in the discus. It was the summer before some of us first started coming to the Armory as high school freshman. The building was dark, smoky and loud but even then filled us with the spirit of the sport. Tom Courtney of Fordham had also won in Melbourne in the 800M. Bannister had broken through on the 4 minute mile two years before and Irishman Ron Delaney gained greatness forever, capturing the 1,500M in these same Australian Games. As a scrawny fourteen year old runner, these champions already had become household names and we all could only marvel at their feats.
Al Oerter however, went on much much further, winning in succession the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympic Gold, an incredible accomplishment. More than that, he continued to love the sport and just missed qualifying for the ill fated 1980 Moscow Olympics team. He continued to train and compete successfully in Master’s events up to the age of 61.
When the Armory was still in a developing state in 1996, Mel Felman convinced me to create an Armory Hall of Fame, the predecessor of the national one honoring a small but distinguished group of track and field athletes who had competed at one time at the Armory. The group included Bob Beamon, Derrick Adkins (now our Director of Track & Field), Lindy Remigino, Mae Faggs, Lorna Ford, Marty Glickman and Al Oerter. Howard Schmertz, Millrose Director and Track Historian Stan Saplin expressed doubts that Oerter had ever competed at the Armory. I began even to question myself yet only two weeks later Stan came to me with the results of a 1950’s Loughlin Games. “Al Oerter, winner shot put, Sewanhaka High School.” Better yet, Stan pointed to the writer’s name in the New York Times. None other than himself, Stan Saplin!
Al Oerter flew up from Florida to the Armory for the induction. It was the first time I had ever met him in person. He didn’t travel with an entourage, never asked for a fancy hotel or expenses. He said he was honored to be there and at a time when I needed it, he encouraged me greatly to continue on with the mission of the Armory. “This place is where the future of the sport lives, there should be more places like the Armory across America,” he spoke enthusiastically at the ceremony. The still unfinished state of the Armory never bothered or affected him. His devotion to our sport shown through unconditionally.
I met him again in 2004 at the opening of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame at the Armory. With the help of NYC public servants of every political stripe, our chairman Michael Frankfurt and a devoted “Hall of Fame Team” we had embarked on a gargantuan challenge to build the only sports Hall of Fame in a major city within America. As I had known him before, Al Oerter was one of the stars of the day, tirelessly giving interviews and enthusiastically thanking us for creating a true monument to this great sport. On that glorious day, being in the thankful company of such legendary athletes was reward beyond asking for our efforts.
In life, Oerter was confident and proud holding plain spoken opinions. He abhorred the use of steroids and hormones by athletes and decried those in leadership positions in any sport who tacitly chose to look the other way. He was someone who kept the common touch and was as much at home in Coogan’s over one or two of Peter’s ales as he was at an elegant dinner to honor the financiers of Randall’s Island Stadium to which he lent his name and support. Most importantly, he believed in the basic integrity of our sport and by his own example that it has a powerful future on the American scene.
Al Oerter was truly a tower of a man. Track and field has been so enriched and honored by his life. This sport and indeed the world are much diminished by his passing.
Norbert W. Sander, Jr., M.D.
The Armory
From USATF.org
Four-time Olympic gold medalist, former world record holder and National Track & Field Hall of Famer Al Oerter died Monday of heart failure in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. He was 71.
The greatest athlete ever to compete in the discus, Oerter participated in four Olympics, always as the underdog, and always came out the winner. With each win he set an Olympic record in the event.
A native of Astoria, N.Y., Oerter won his first gold medal in 1956 while he was a student at the University of Kansas, upsetting fellow National Track & Field Hall of Famer Fortune Gordien in throwing an Olympic record 56.37 meters/184 feet 11 inches.
Four years later, at the Olympic Trials, he suffered his first defeat in more than two years when he lost to Rink Babka. At the Rome Olympics, he topped Babka with an Olympic-record throw of 59.19m/194-2.
At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Oerter was an underdog to Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia, who had won 45 straight competitions. Suffering from a disc injury and torn cartilage in his lower ribs, Oerter was given little chance. On his fifth throw, after removing his neck harness, Oerter became the first thrower to surpass 200 feet in winning his third gold medal.
He won his fourth gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, throwing a record 64.77m/212-6 and upsetting Danek and world record-holder (and fellow National Track & Field Hall of Famer) Jay Silvester.
At Kansas, where he was coached by Hall of Famer Bill Easton, Oerter won two national collegiate titles. He also won six National AAU titles, improved the world discus record four times and was the 1959 Pan-American Games champion. After retiring in 1968, he returned eight years later to challenge for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic teams. Incredibly, in 1980, he achieved his best-ever throw of 69.44m/227-10.50, at age 43.
Oerter was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.
Following his athletic career Oerter worked in the computer industry and was a public speaker. He began a program entitled Art of the Olympians, which gave him and other Olympians the opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities.
"Al Oerter is one of the greatest track and field athletes, and one of the greatest Olympic athletes, of all time," said USATF CEO Craig A. Masback. "What made him even more special was his excellence off the track, in pursuits ranging from community outreach to art. The track world has lost a legend, a Hall of Famer, and a true gentleman. USATF extends our deepest sympathy to Al's family."
Services are pending.
Our sport lost one of its heroes this week. He first made his mark by winning the Olympic gold at Melbourne in 1956 in the discus. It was the summer before some of us first started coming to the Armory as high school freshman. The building was dark, smoky and loud but even then filled us with the spirit of the sport. Tom Courtney of Fordham had also won in Melbourne in the 800M. Bannister had broken through on the 4 minute mile two years before and Irishman Ron Delaney gained greatness forever, capturing the 1,500M in these same Australian Games. As a scrawny fourteen year old runner, these champions already had become household names and we all could only marvel at their feats.
Al Oerter however, went on much much further, winning in succession the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympic Gold, an incredible accomplishment. More than that, he continued to love the sport and just missed qualifying for the ill fated 1980 Moscow Olympics team. He continued to train and compete successfully in Master’s events up to the age of 61.
When the Armory was still in a developing state in 1996, Mel Felman convinced me to create an Armory Hall of Fame, the predecessor of the national one honoring a small but distinguished group of track and field athletes who had competed at one time at the Armory. The group included Bob Beamon, Derrick Adkins (now our Director of Track & Field), Lindy Remigino, Mae Faggs, Lorna Ford, Marty Glickman and Al Oerter. Howard Schmertz, Millrose Director and Track Historian Stan Saplin expressed doubts that Oerter had ever competed at the Armory. I began even to question myself yet only two weeks later Stan came to me with the results of a 1950’s Loughlin Games. “Al Oerter, winner shot put, Sewanhaka High School.” Better yet, Stan pointed to the writer’s name in the New York Times. None other than himself, Stan Saplin!