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Bob Backus
Robert ("Bob") Hudson Backus (July 11, 1926 – June 30, 1999) was an American track and field athlete who set List of world records in athletics, world records in the hammer throw. He wore ballet slippers during competition and after using weight training to overcome the effects of meningitis.Litsky, Frank"Bob Backus Is Dead at 72; World's Best Weight Thrower" ''The New York Times'', July 7, 1999. Accessed March 30, 2009. Backus was born on July 11, 1926 in Boston. At 6 feet, 5 inches in height and 160 pounds, Backus was rejected by the United States Army Air Forces' cadet program as he was deemed too thin. As part of his efforts to recover from spinal meningitis, Backus took up weight training and bulked up into a 290-pound strongman, despite concerns that such training would make him "musclebound". He attended Tufts University, where he started weight throwing, participating in the 16-pound hammer throw outdoors, and the 35 and 56 pound events indoors. Backus was inducted to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track And Field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, racewalking, and hurdling, are won by the athlete who completes it in the least time. The jumping and throwing events are won by those who achieve the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus, and hammer. There are also "combined events" or "multi events", such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, and decathlon consisting of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsingfors 1952), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in 1938 that it would be unable to host 1940 Olympics in Tokyo due to the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War, Helsinki had been selected to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were then cancelled due to World War II. Tokyo eventually hosted the games in 1964. Helsinki is the northernmost city at which a summer Olympic Games have been held. With London hosting the 1948 Olympics, 1952 is the most recent time when two consecutive summer Olympics Games were held entirely in Europe. The 1952 Summer Olympics was the last of the two consecutive Olympics to be held in Northern Europe, following the 1952 Winter Olympics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
