On Saturday, April 21, 2007 Parry O’Brien died and the loss, especially to me, is a big one. Most people have no idea who Parry O’Brien was and what he accomplished, which is all the sadder. While attending USC in the early 1950s, Parry looked at how he put the shot and decided there was a better way. He changed the technique and revolutionized the sport. He went on to set countless world records, including being the first human to ever put the shot over 60’. He won gold medals in the ’52 and ’56 Olympics, silver in the ’60 Olympics and placed fourth in ’64 – his fourth trip to the world’s greatest athletic stage. He was an ambassador of shot put and never let on that he was aware how profoundly and permanently he had rewritten the record books or the sport.
A lover of competition, Parry eventually retired from shot put when it became too difficult on his body to throw. By the age of 50 he looked for new challenges and found Master’s swimming. He once told my coach that he loved swimming, not because he excelled at it, but because he didn’t. He saw a lifetime of learning ahead of him and that thrilled Parry O’Brien to the core.
As a young man beginning his athletic career as a shot putter, I knew who Parry O’Brien was and considered him an icon. Imagine my thrill a couple of years ago when I learned I would have the opportunity to meet him at a local swim meet in which I was participating. I had a long list of questions I wanted to ask: everything from how he came to change shot put so drastically to how it felt being in four Olympics. I wanted to know how he trained back then and what he thought of the sport now. I was positively brimming with questions and excitement. The big day arrived; I met the big man and guess what? We spent the entire time discussing swimming. Parry O’Brien aged gracefully and never gave up his love for learning or competing. He lived in the moment, he was always ready to share and he was kind to a fault. The world lost a big man last weekend, and it has nothing to do with size.
Filed under: TAO OF SPORT
Life That POPs 