Al Cantello
Albert "Al" Cantello (born June 9, 1931 in Norristown , Pennsylvania ) is a retired American javelin thrower who made headlines in the late 1950s.
Cantello, who graduated from La Salle University , was a naval lieutenant. He first appeared in 1955 with a 4th place at the US championships. In 1958 he was runner-up and champion in 1959 and 1960 respectively.
His peculiar throwing technique, smiled at by many, was that he took a run-up in the manner of a sprinter and, after throwing the spear, performed a pike jump followed by a belly landing. In this way he was not only able to prevent trespassing, but also to convert his approach speed optimally into throwing distance. When he threw 86.04 m in Compton on June 5, 1959 , surpassing the three-year-old world record of the Norwegian Egil Danielsen by 33 cm, he was considered the favorite for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome . There he could not build on his successes: with 74.40 m he only came in 10th place. Alfred Cantello shared the fate of Janusz Sidło from Poland (final: 8th place; 76.46 m). Both he and the Pole had achieved excellent distances in the qualification (Cantello: 79.72 m; Sidło: 85.14 m), only to break in in the subsequent final round.
After the failure in Rome, Cantello could no longer achieve outstanding competition results. With a height of 1.71 m, his competition weight was 75 kg.
After completing his active career, he became a track and field coach at the United States Naval Academy in 1963 , which he carried out until his retirement on August 30, 2018. Due to his work and success as an athletic trainer , Cantello was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the US Athletics and Cross Country Trainers Association ( USTFCCCA ) in 2013 .
Web links
- Al Cantello in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Javelin throw results from Rome 1960 (archive link)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Men's Cross Country Head Coach Al Cantello Elects to Retire After 55 Years at Navy. In: navysports.com. August 17, 2018, accessed on September 12, 2019 .
- ↑ USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Class of 2013 Inducted at Annual Convention. In: ustfccca.org. December 16, 2013, accessed September 12, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cantello, Al |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cantello, Albert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American javelin thrower |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 9, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Norristown , Pennsylvania |