Al Oerter was one of the best male track and field throwers that the world has seen. On September 19, 1936 Alfred Oerter was born in Astoria, New York. When Al got into high school he joined track and became a mile runner. One day a discus landed at Al’s feet and Al threw it back. The coach came over to him and told him he was now a thrower. Al listened and it’s a good thing he did. Al studied discus and practiced everyday. Al set multiple high school records in his four years.
After high school, Al soon became an Olympic hopeful. In less than five years from the start of Al throwing he was competing in his first Olympics. At 20, Al won the gold medal and broke the Olympic record. In 1957, Al suffered from many serious injuries after an
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Al retired to Fort Myers Beach, Florida where he raised his two girls. Al exited retirement at age 40 to train for the Olympics one more time. In May of 1980, Al threw his farthest recorded throw yet. At 227 feet 11 inches, Al beat his own recorded record. While Al was training for the 1980 Olympics, he threw a 140 but it wasn’t recorded as official (Al Oerter Biography).
Before Al was an Olympic thrower, he was a worker in the computer industry and also was a motivational speaker. He enjoyed starting up his old careers again after retiring a second time (Al Oerter Biography). After Al’s many accomplishments he was inducted into 18 different hall of fames. Ranging from the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1975 to the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 (F.Caso). Al was the representative of the U.S. Olympic Committee at many speaking events. He was also the first recipient of “The Olympic Order” award.
On top of Al being an all star, Olympic thrower he was an artist. Al painted many abstract paintings. He was famous for saying “I don’t have technique” in both throwing, painting and life. his paintings are full of color and craziness. When Al died, his family started to sell his artwork. All originals were copied under 300 times and now they sell for up to 800 dollars. His family says “buy your paintings now because there will never be another Al Oerter