Parry O'Brien biography
Parry O’Brien, in full William Parry O’Brien, (born January 28, 1932, Santa Monica, California, U.S.—died April 21, 2007, Santa Clarita, California), American shot-putter who developed a mode that revolutionized the occasion. He held the world document from 1953 to 1959, rising the space from 18 metres (59 toes 3/4 inches) to 19.30 metres (63 toes 4 inches) in that interval.
O’Brien started placing the shot in highschool in Santa Monica, the place he additionally threw the discus, was a sprinter, and performed soccer. In his freshman yr on the University of Southern California (Los Angeles), he surpassed all different shot-putters within the faculty and late in that yr toured Europe with a particular American workforce, competing within the discus and on the relay workforce in addition to placing the shot.
O’Brien developed the brand new fashion by himself, and it was finally adopted by all shot-putters. It known as for the putter to begin together with his again to the shot’s eventual line of flight, thus turning 180° earlier than the discharge.
At the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, he received the gold medal, setting an Olympic document of 17.41 metres. He received 116 straight meet occasions within the Nineteen Fifties, together with the Pan-American titles in 1955 and 1959. In 1956 he turned the primary shot-putter to interrupt 19 metres. He broke the world document 16 instances between 1953 and 1959. He received one other gold medal on the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, received a silver medal on the 1960 Games in Rome, and positioned fourth on the 1964 Games in Tokyo. In 1966, in his nineteenth season, he improved his distance to 19.69 m. After graduating from the college, he went into mortgage banking in Los Angeles and did occasional tv sports activities commentary. In 1971 on the Senior Sports International competitors, O’Brien received each the shot and discus occasions.