Al Oerter

Al Oerter Jr. was born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in New Hyde Park, Long Island. Attending the University of Kansas on a track scholarship, Oerter was an imposing 6-foot-4, 280-pound specimen of speed and rotation who survived a horrific car accident in 1957 that nearly severed his neck. In 1956, as a 20-year-old underdog at Melbourne, he threw an Olympic record to win his first gold medal.

Oerter was the ultimate clutch competitor in Olympic history. In Rome in 1960, he trailed American teammate and world record holder Rink Babka before uncorking an Olympic record in the fifth round to take gold. At Tokyo 1964, competing with torn rib cartilage and internal bleeding taped in a heavy ice cast, he defied doctors, tore off his bandages on his fifth throw, and launched another Olympic record to win his third consecutive gold.

At the high-altitude 1968 Mexico City Olympics at age thirty-two, facing world-record holder Jay Silvester, Oerter shattered his own personal best by five feet, throwing 64.78 meters (212 ft 6 in) to capture his fourth consecutive gold medal. In his later years, Oerter founded the 'Art of the Olympians' organization, championing painting and sculpture among retired Olympic athletes.