Fortune Gordia
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|---|---|---|
| athletics | ||
| bronze | 1948 | Discus throwing |
| silver | 1956 | Discus throwing |
Fortune Gordien (born September 9, 1922 in Spokane , † April 10, 1990 in Fontana , California ) was an American athlete who was among the world's best in discus throwing for around ten years after the Second World War . As his nerves regularly failed at major competitions, regardless of his auspicious name, he was nicknamed "Infortune". Son of a magician and a student at the University of Minnesota , he first appeared in 1946 when he won the NCAA championship. After college, he started for the Southern California Striders . He took part in three Olympic Games, but it was "only" enough for one silver and one bronze. In 1960, at the age of 37, he still achieved a width of 57.21 m. Fortune Gordien was 1.84 m tall and weighed 105 kg.
Services
World records
- 56.46 m on July 3, 1949 in Lisbon
- 56.77 m on August 14, 1949 in Hämeenlinna
- 58.10 m on July 11, 1953 in Pasadena
- 59.28 on August 22, 1953 in Pasadena
Titles and placements
International
- 1948 Olympic Games in London: bronze with 50.77 m behind the two Italians Adolfo Consolini (gold with 52.78 m) and Giuseppe Tosi (silver with 51.78 m)
- 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki: fourth with 52.66 m (the bronze medalist threw only 62 cm further; American Sim Iness won with 55.03 m)
-
1955 Pan American Games in Mexico City:
- Gold in the discus throw with 53.10 m ahead of Parry O'Brien ( USA ) (silver with 51.07 m) and Hernán Haddad (Chile) (bronze with 47.14 m)
- Silver in the shot put with 15.98 m behind Parry O'Brien (gold with 17.59 m) and in front of Marty Engel (bronze with 14.62 m) (both USA)
- Olympic Games 1956 in Melbourne: Silver with 54.81 m behind Al Oerter (gold with 56.36 m) and in front of Des Koch (bronze with 54.40 m) (both USA)
National
| year | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1953 | 1954 |
| Width (m) | 46.91 ( NCAA ) | 52.81 (NCAA), 53.07 ( AAU ) | 50.00 (NCAA), 51.33 (AAU) | 53.17 (AAU) | 52.79 (AAU) | 56.02 (AAU) | 55.52 (AAU) |
Web links
- Fortune Gordien in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Biography ( Memento from September 7, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- http://usatf.org/athletes/hof/gordien.asp
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gordien, Fortune |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American athlete |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 9, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Spokane (Washington) |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 10, 1990 |
| Place of death | Fontana (California) |