T&FN Special: The Al Oerter Legend, The Streak Ends

This the story of discus legend Al Oerter's in Munich as it appeared in the October 1972 edition of Track & Field News.

©Track & Field News, 1972–2007

Oerter: No Regrets About Munich

by Garry Hill

"By no means do I regret not having tried out for the Olympic team," says Al Oerter. "Naturally, during the competition [the discus] I thought that perhaps I could have won it." He laughs, "No one threw 275 feet. I think it would have been a very interesting competition."

Those who have not been following the sport for long might ask, "Who is this smart Oerter guy who talks about winning the Olympics? I haven't seen his name on the world list in the last three years." Although he needs little introduction to most, Al Oerter is the durn best discus thrower ever to come down the Olympic pike.

In 1956, as a University of Kansas junior, the unheralded Oerter broke the Olympic Record on his first toss with a 184-11 heave that stood up for an upset win. "I don't know how I did it;" he said later. "I was nervous and keyed up. Somehow or other everything went just right and this throw came out." But Oerter is a man of such guts and determination that things always turned out right.

In 1960, he trailed for four rounds before unleashing another Olympic record toss, 194-2, to win. "I was so tense I could barely throw," he said after his win. In 1964, he was suffering from torn cartilages in his rib cage and his first practice throw doubled him up with pain. "I was thinking of dropping out," he said. And again trailing as he took his fifth toss, he again uncorked an Olympic record, 200-1, for number three.

And in 1968, he was down by almost 20 feet an the tape measure off pre Games performances. But displaying remarkable concentration, Oerter not only won again with an Olympic record (naturally), his 212-6 toss was a PR by more than five feet. "I get fired up for the Olympics," was his reply. And he added, "I guess I'm a little jealous of my gold medal. I don't want to give it up."

But when the ’72 Games rolled around, there was no Oerter. In fact, he hadn't even tried out for the U.S. team. But wasn't he going to try?

"Yeah," he recalls, "in fact I worked out up until the middle of March of 1971, actively going for the Games, then I discontinued the effort. At that time, it was much too time consuming for the number of things we had in the family [he has two young daughters], there were just a great number of personal reasons.

"In the end it just became a burden. There was no difficulty in attaining good condition in weight and strength and all the things that go into it, there just wasn't any time to put in the effort that was required."

So, sparkling as the Munich discus competition was, to many there was something missing—Oerter. In fact, his presence was felt all throughout the season, as rumors kept flying that he was secretly training on Long Island, and would suddenly appear in Eugene.

Indeed, a group of eastern tafnuts was thinking of buying Al a plane ticket and paying him to put on his sweats and walk onto the discus field with his platter and say, "Hi guys." It's probably a good thing they didn't, or American might have been minus two Olympic discus throwers when Jay Silvester died of a heart attack.

As it is, Oerter's record of four golds in one event is unparalleled in track history. "I must admit that the feeling crossed my mind if I put in two or three years hard work and finished second it would have been considered a failure. It's hard to follow up four. What do you do for an encore?" Well for a start, you might begin throwing again.

And, Al says, "I intend to start competing on a very inactive local basis next year. I'm not competing nationally, I won't be out there in the California meets. I think it will be great fun. I won't have to put much effort into it and will be able to enjoy it. I'll have to give it a try." And the bad vertebrae which forced him to wear a neck brace in competition for years no longer troubles him. "I've already thrown hard," he says. "Not far," he emphasizes, "but hard, and it hasn't hurt."

He may never throw 200 feet again, but Oerter is probably sending shivers up and down a few spines just by talking about touching the platter again.

Ever the sportsman, Al injected a light note into TAFNOT's Munich banquet when his telegram to winner Ludvik Danek was read: "Congratulations, but thanks for not breaking my Olympic Record."