I just got word from our NBC affiliate that four time Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter has died. He was living on Fort Myers Beach and passed away at Health Park in Fort Myers. He had been dealing with heart issues over the last several years. Al was an all time track and field great and an even better person.
a great competitor. always admired him.
many years ago i read al was going to write books on nutrition,training and competeing. i hope they were written.
He didn't seem to age gracefully after his career.
Oops, I was thinking of brian oldfield.
The man's achievements were synonymous w/mention of the Olympic Games. Longevity and excellence w/few peers.
I trust there is at least 1 statue of the man somewhere?
It is now being reported in the news.
4 oly golds in 4 successive olympics...upping the oly record each successive time....
This guy was the greatest Olympic T+F athlete ever. 5 Gold Medals, All world records, was favored to win zero of them.
There is also the neck brace story.
He also qualified for the Oly Trials at age 63.
Most underrated guy ever.
Perhaps a little overstatement is appropriate at this moment, but he didn't win five Olympic gold medals, he wasn't the greatest Olympic track and field athlete or the most underrated guy ever, and -- as far as I'm aware -- he did not qualify for the Olympic trials at the age of 63.
He was, however, a four-time Olympic champion who continued to compete at a high level into his mid-40s.
wombat wrote:
This guy was the greatest Olympic T+F athlete ever. 5 Gold Medals, All world records, was favored to win zero of them.
There is also the neck brace story.
He also qualified for the Oly Trials at age 63.
Most underrated guy ever.
Not by anyone who followed the sport.
Also, all of his world records were set between 1962 and 1964. His Olympic victories were all Olympic records, but not world records.
RIP to one of the great ones in Track and Field and a true gentleman.
a gentelman and an 'energy' artist...
"Oerter began his artistic dabblings in 1980 when Anheuser-Busch commissioned him and other renowned athletes to create works for the U.S. Olympic Team.
Each athlete had to use the equipment required in his or her sport - a hockey stick, track shoes.
Oerter had his discus.
Even though he'd never taken an art class, the Olympian walked into a white room with white floors and a long canvas in the mecca of the art world, New York City.
Oerter announced to onlookers he wanted to express on canvas the energy of his sport.
Oerter used the discus like a makeshift brush to drag reds, greens and browns across the canvas.
The paint slid off the surface. The thing was a mess.
Then he had a beer - the whole effort was for Anheuser-Busch, after all - and tried again.
That time Oerter clustered bubble wrap behind the canvas and poured puddles of reds, greens, yellows and blacks on the surface.
He took the discus and smashed it on the colorful pools.
"All of a sudden there was paint all over the damn place," Oerter recalled in a 2003 interview with The News-Press.
Streaks of orange, splatters of red, drips of blacks and green. It screamed "energy."
On and on the process went until Oerter smash-painted 13 canvases, one of which was later auctioned at Christie's in New York for $14,500.
"People have much too much money," he said.
Over the years, Oerter pursued his artwork more. He helped bring fellow Olympians to Southwest Florida to exhibit their work.
Sad news.
He lived in CO for a long time, but had to move because of his heart condition (the altitude was not helping him).
One of the greats.
A class act from start to finish. My Dad also worked with him for many years at Grumman Aircraft, and reported the same thing from that sphere.
RIP.
71 seems quite young
You would never know he was 71 unless you had his birth records.
A classy, inspiring man who will be missed.
When the National Track and Field Hall of Fame opened at The Armory in NYC in 2004, I met Al and his wife Cathy. Many of us including Peter Walsh (Coogan's Pub) went out after to a jazz club. One of the most memorable times of my life. What a gentleman and a great guy.
I am truly saddened at the loss of a true athlete and legend of our sport.
Tom Buffolano
I saw Mr. Oerter's Olympic Gold Medal Performances in 1964 and 1968. He would not be beaten in Olympic competition. His juices flowed in Olympic competition. He created great fun and excitment in Track and Field. The sport will remember Al Oerter and also miss him.