Al Oerter, the legendary disc thrower that became a gold medalist when still a student at Kansas, died yesterday at the age of 71 of heart failure near his home in Fort Myers, Florida.

Oerter, considered by many the greatest disc thrower of all times, won four Olympic gold medals between 1956 and 1968 and in 1964 threw 61 meters to end Ludvik Danek’s 45 competitions winning streak and also to become the first man to throw the disc farther than 200 feet.

Only Carl Lewis managed to win four straight Olympic gold medals, but Oerter still has the edge as he not only won the four gold medals in the discus event, he also set Olympic records in the 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968 Games.

"Oerter is one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time. The track world has lost a legend," Craig Masback, chief executive of the USA Track and Field Association, said.

Although Oerter retired in 1968, he managed to achieve his best ever distance twelve years later as he threw 69.44m in 1980 at the age of 43.

"His legacy is one of an athlete who embodied all of the positive attributes associated with being an Olympian," said Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The well-known athlete was suffering from high blood pressure, a burden he had to deal with all his life, and he previously had collapsed and stopped breathing for a short time in 2003. Although doctors suggested him to undergo a heart transplant, Oerter turned down the offer.

"I just flat out can't see it," Oerter said then. "Just can't see it. I'm not going to get a new heart."

Oerter’s Athletic Career

Oerter was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City on September 19, 1936. He grew up in New Hyde Park and attended Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park. He began his disc throwing career at about fifteen and he earned a scholarship to the University of Kansas in 1954. At 6'4" (193 cm) and 280 pounds (127 kg), Oerter was a perfect athlete for disc throwing.

He began his career at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, when despite being an underdog he threw a career best of 184'11" (56.36 meters) to win the competition by more than 5'.

His athletic career was very close to a premature end as Oerter was involved in a car accident at the age of 20, but he managed to recover in time to compete at the 1960 Summer Olympics at Rome. Then he was considered a slight favorite and threw his discus 194'2" (59.18 m) to set a new Olympic record and surpass his team mate and previous record holder Rink Babka, who won silver.

His success continued through the 1960s as he set his first world record in 1962, when he
threw over 200 feet. He was the heavy favorite at Tokyo in 1964, when, despite enduring great pain caused by a neck injury and a tore cartilage in his ribs, he managed to win a third Olympic gold medal despite not being able to take his last throw due to the pain. He improved his record again by throwing 61.00 meters.

At the Olympics in 1968 at Mexico City, Oerter was 32 and not a favorite anymore as before the competition he wasn’t able to throw as far as his teammate Jay Silvester did on his average throws. However, this was the Olympics and Oerter released another Olympic record throw of 64.78 meters on first throw becoming the first track and field athlete to win four consecutive gold medals.

In later years, Oerter carried the Olympic flame into the stadium in the 1996 Olympic Games. In 2005, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.