Parry O'Brien

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Parry O'Brien athletics
Full name William Parry O'Brien Jr.
nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday January 28, 1932
place of birth Santa Monica
size 190 cm
Weight 111 kg
date of death April 21, 2007
Place of death Santa Clarita
Career
discipline Shot put
Best performance 19.69 m
society Los Angeles Athletic Club
Medal table
Olympic games 2 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
Pan American Games 2 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings Olympic games
gold Helsinki 1952 Shot put
gold Melbourne 1956 Shot put
silver Rome 1960 Shot put
Pan American Games logo Pan American Games
gold Mexico City 1955 Shot put
gold Chicago 1959 Shot put

William Parry O'Brien Jr. (born January 28, 1932 in Santa Monica , California , the son of a Russian and an Irishman, † April 21, 2007 in Santa Clarita ) was an American athlete who worked in the 1950s and 1960s celebrated a number of successes in the shot put . He broke eleven world records and became Olympic champion in 1952 and 1956 .

Career

The son of a Russian and an Irishman began his athletic career as a footballer , but switched to the shot put after being kicked in the stomach in a scuffle.

Between 1952 and 1956 O'Brien celebrated 116 victories in a row. In 1959 he was awarded the Sullivan Award . At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, he was the flag bearer of his team.

O'Brien was 1.92 m tall and weighed 114 kg at the beginning of his long athletic career, but gained 25 kg over the years. As force him food served especially honey , of which he was bringing a supply at all competitions.

Although he was generally unpopular because of his arrogance and starry airs , he was given the honorary title of Mr. Shot Put in recognition of the fact that he revolutionized the shot put and invented the so-called O'Brien technique (also: back kick or angle technique), which is still used today by a number of shot putters and all shot putters.

Parry O'Brien was an officer in the Air Force and later worked as an authorized officer at a bank.

The O'Brien technique (back thrust or leveling technique)

It all began with a competition in Stuttgart , which the then 19-year-old Parry O'Brien competed in 1951 on the occasion of a trip to Europe. He lay down a towel in the grass at 17 m - this was the exact distance he had won the US championships for the first time weeks before and defeated world record holder Jim Fuchs - and even after the competition was long over, he was still trying to close the towel meet, but in vain. So he began to think about his shot put technique and found that you can achieve greater distances by holding the ball in your hand for as long as possible, thereby increasing the leverage . To do this, he stood with his back facing the direction of the thrust and crouched deeply while planing flat , after which he followed an explosive body extension and pushed the ball high. He practiced this technique in front of a mirror in the basement of his parents' house. Success was not long in coming: Parry O'Brien was the first to hit the ball over 18 m (1953) and 19 m (1956).

In his last active year, 1966, as a 34-year-old he achieved his personal best with 19.69 m , with which he took fourth place on the world's best list.

Services

Olympic games

Pan American Games

National titles

  • NCAA : 1952 and 53
  • AAU ball open air: 1951 to 1956, 1959 and 1960
  • AAU discus: 1955
  • AAU Halle: 1953 to 1961

Records

The current world record in the men's shot put was set by Randy Barnes with 23.12 meters on May 20, 1990 in Westwood (USA).

Awards

In 1984 Parry O'Brien was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame .

In 2013 he was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame .

Web links
personal data
SURNAME O'Brien, Parry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES O'Brien, William Parry Jr. (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American shot putter and Olympic champion
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Santa Monica
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 2007
Place of death Santa Clarita