Parry OBrien
Track and Field

Parry O'Brien

Olympian 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964

  • 2

    GOLD

  • 1

    SILVER

  • 0

    BRONZE

Athlete Bio#

Parry OBrien

Age

Died (Aged 75)

1932-2007

Hometown

Santa Monica, CA

Education

Santa Monica High School (Santa Monica, Calif.) University of Southern California

Personal
Played football and ran track and field at Santa Monica High School....Toured Europe with a selected American team of shot-putters as a freshman at the University of Southern California...Studied physics, aerodynamics, religion and yoga because he thought they might help him throw the shot further...Went into mortgage banking in Los Angeles upon graduating college...Won both the shot put and discus events at the Senior Sports International competition in 1971...Married to wife, Terri...Father to two daughters, Shauna and Erin.
Olympic Experience
  • 4-time Olympian; 3-time Olympic medalist (2 gold, 1 silver)
    • Olympic Games Tokyo 1964, 4th (Shot Put - Men)
    • Olympic Games Rome 1960, silver (Shot Put - Men)
    • Olympic Games Melbourne 1956, gold (Shot Put - Men)
    • Olympic Games Helsinki 1952, gold (Shot Put - Men)

William Parry O’Brien was born in Santa Monica, California, and first drew athletic acclaim as a football player at the University of Southern California. After an injury ended his football career, he chose to focus his efforts on track and field, specifically the shot put and discus throws. Along the way, he developed his signature O’Brien style of shot put throwing, turning his entire body 180 degrees to generate momentum for his throw. This throwing style revolutionized the sport, allowing him to break the world record in shot put 17 times, as well as become the first man to throw the shot more than 60 feet. O’Brien would win three Olympic medals in shot put, including the gold medal at the Olympic Games Helsinki 1952 and the Melbourne 1956 Games. He received the James E. Sullivan award in 1959 for the nation’s top amateur athlete, and later enjoyed successful careers in commercial banking, real estate and civil engineering.

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