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T&FN Special: The Al Oerter Legend, Gold Medal 4
This the story of discus legend Al
Oerter's fourth Olympic gold medal—in Mexico City, Mexico—as it
appeared in the October/November 1968 edition of Track & Field News.
©Track & Field News, 1968–2007
Oerter: Fourth Gold Medal
by Cordner Nelson
Al Oerter's unprecedented reign as Olympic champion was about to end: he had won in 1956 as a callow youth against great veterans; he came from behind to win at Rome; and he overcame severe pain to beat the World Record holder at Tokyo.
But now he was up against Jay Silvester, a man who added eight feet to the World Record this year, a fearsome giant who threw the discus 17 feet farther than Oerter's lifetime best. Oerter himself said, "I didn't think I had a chance this time."
The preliminary round only served to emphasize Silvester's supremacy. While Oerter looked mediocre in the qualifying round, Silvester spun his first throw 13 feet farther to raise Oerter's Olympic Record to 207-10.
And in the final, delayed an hour by a deluge which filled the concrete ring with water, Oerter's respectable opening throw of 202-8 (61.78) and his second round foul left him in 4th place with a good chance of missing a medal.
Al Oerter, however, is a one in a million athlete. He had proved it before, with his three gold medals, and a loss here could never dim his luster. He was not content with the past, though, and he competed without his protective neck brace in an effort to gain maximum distance no matter what the consequences. He stalked around between throws like some caged animal, ignoring his opponents and his sweat clothes, wearing only a towel over his shoulders for warmth.
For his third attempt he stepped inside the high green cage, wiped his shoes clean, and entered the pale green circle. He was still hoping for a throw beyond his personal record of 207-5. He needed it to take the lead from German Lothar Milde and to put some pressure on Silvester, and he knew it was possible because he had been doing it in practice—his most concentrated month of practice in years.
He spun slowly and carefully with disciplined power and he sailed the discus high into the dark sky. He knew it was a good throw and he watched the flying saucer maintain its flight position all the way down beyond the markers of Milde and Losch and Silvester, beyond his own record, beyond Silvester's new Olympic Record.
He heard the roar of joy and amazement from the crowd, and then, after the measurement appeared on the electric scoreboard and was translated into English units, 212-6, he felt the keen satisfaction of raising his personal record, at this important time and place, by a whopping 4-1.
It was the third time he had gone to the Olympics and set a personal record, and no matter what Silvester did on his last four throws the name of Al Oerter had to go down as one of the greatest competitors in the history all sports.
Silvester appeared shattered. He'd had every reason to believe he would win here, but now, without a favoring wind which could add 10 or more feet to good throws, he felt the pressure of having to beat 212-6. He reverted to his fast, less controlled pre 1968 spins and he fouled three times in a row, then slid one off to the left and finished 5th. He had cooled off during the rain delay, loosening up with a rubdown and resting on the wet ground with his feet in the air.
The others fared little better under Oerter's pressure. Only two of the contenders improved at all and only by inches, and Oerter had his fourth gold medal in a single event, a feat no other man had approached. He emphasized his amazing come through ability with two other great throws of 212-5 and 210-1, both beyond his pre Games' best of 207-5 in 1966.
The two blue shirted East German started strongly. The 33 year old Lothar Milde took the lead with 204-10 on his first throw, improved to 206-11 on his second, and even managed 2O5-4 after Oerter's winning toss. Hartmut Losch, runner up in the 1966 European Championships, opened with 203-10 for 2nd place after two rounds.
Ludvik Danek, former World Record holder and 1964 silver medalist, was 5th at the end of two rounds. Wearing an off white tee shirt under his red vest, he set a season's record of 206-5 on his third throw to take the bronze medal. Gary Carlsen, wearing his blue U.S. sweat pants, fell 15 feet short of his best mark with 195-1 to place 6th.
Praise for Oerter was unrestrained, but nobody could explain his phenomenal success. His former Kansas coach, Bill Easton, said, "He has the most concentration of any... He doesn't let anybody bother him."
Head Olympic coach Payton Jordan said, "He's all heart and guts," and someone else said, "He never chokes," But it is more than that. He not only never
chokes, he always does better than can be expected. Oerter himself said simply, "I get fired up for the Olympics. I'll throw for at least another year but Munich is a question mark. I'll have to think about that one." Then he added, "I guess I'm a little jealous of my gold medal. I don't want to give it up."
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