Wilbur Thompson

Wilbur Marvin "Moose" Thompson (born April 6, 1921 in Frankfort , South Dakota , † December 25, 2013 in Long Beach , California ) was an American athlete .

Career

Even while he was at Modesto Junior College, California, Wilbur Thompson was a talented shot putter and won the national championships in 1939 and 1940. In 1942, he was fifth at the NCAA championships as a member of the University of Southern California . After his return from World War II , he was able to advance to the top in the United States.

After finishing second at the 1946 NCAA Championships, Wilbur Thompson won the shot put at the 1948 London Olympics . With a width of 17.12 m he could safely distance his compatriots Jim Delaney (16.68 m) and Jim Fuchs (16.42 m). The best placed non-American was Miecisław Lomowski from Poland with 15.43 m. Twelve years after the Games in Berlin , when the Americans finished fourth to sixth and remained medalless for the first time, they achieved a triple victory again.

On July 28, 1949 Jim Fuchs set his first world record with 17.79 m. In this competition, Wilbur Thompson came second with 16.44 m. Wilbur Thompson was 1.83 m tall and weighed 89 kg during his playing days.

In 1953, he settled in Long Beach and worked in the oil business and on the California State Lands Commission. Thompson was the father of three daughters. He died on December 25, 2013 at the age of 92.

literature

• Bill Mallon & Ian Buchanan: Quest for Gold. New York 1984. ISBN 0-88011-217-4
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Fields Athletics. Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Former Olympic Champion, USC Track And Field Star Wilbur Thompson Dies , accessed January 4, 2014

Web links

• Wilbur Thompson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )