Alan Francis is a horseshoes pitcher from

Defiance, Ohio Defiance is a city in and the county seat of Defiance County, Ohio, United States, about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Ohio's northwestern corner. The population was 16,494 at the 2010 United State ...

. He has won the World Horseshoe Championship 27 times, in 1989, 1993, 1995–1999, 2001, 2003–2010, 2012–2019 and 2021-2023. That is the most anyone has won it (2nd place belongs to Ted Allen who has won 10). He is also the only player to consistently pitch over 90%, and is regarded by many as the greatest horseshoe pitcher ever. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that he may be "the most dominant athlete in any sport in the country". He began competing when he was 9, and before he turned 18 he won a record 4 Junior Boys World Championships, the first of which he won at the age of 12 in 1982. He competed in his first world championship in 1978, held in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. He is the youngest world champion in history. He has the highest ringer percentage in history, and the most consecutive wins in history.

Personal life

He was raised in

Blythedale, Missouri Blythedale is a village in northeast Harrison County, Missouri, United States. The population was 211 at the 2020 census. History Blythedale was laid out in 1880, and named in honor of a railroad employee. A post office called Blythedale has bee ...

, part of a family of full-time farmers and part-time horseshoe pitchers. His father is Larry Francis. He is married to Amy Brown, a three-time world runner-up, whom he married in 1996. They have a son, Alex Francis, born in 2004.

References

Sportspeople from Ohio Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Defiance, Ohio Horseshoes pitchers {{US-sport-bio-stub