John van Reenen (26 March 1947 – 21 August 2018) was a South African graphic artist and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

er, who was best known for setting the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the men's discus event in 1975. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, despite never having played American Football

Biography

John van Reenen was born on 26 March 1947 in

Bethlehem, Free State Bethlehem is a town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs river (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road. It is the fastest growin ...

, South Africa. As an athlete, his international competitive exposure was limited by the ban on South Africa from international games, imposed due to the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime at the time. He managed to compete overseas via representing his university

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

where he was pursuing his art studies on a scholarship (one of five offered to him) based on his athletics prowess. Van Reenen studied Fine Art throughout his athletics career, specialising in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s. In the 1970 season he twice broke the South African record while competing for WSU, but his major mark was in the spring of 1975, when on 14 March, at a meet in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

, he threw 68.48m to set a new world record. He later won the British 3A's championship that year. Ten years on he won the South African national championships in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Van Reenan became an artist and joined the studio of Jan Vermeiren.André Philippus Brink, ''Jan Vermeiren: a Flemish artist in South Africa'' (Lannoo Uitgeverij), 2000 , He lectured at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

his subject matter being Etchings. As an artist he found some success with his art having sold across the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

and throughout

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Van Reenen was inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame in February 2009 for his World Record Discus Throw.

References

External links

John van Reenen Online Art Gallery
for further information about John van Reenen's athletics career and Art Career.

1947 births 2018 deaths South African male discus throwers World record setters in athletics (track and field) White South African people People from Bethlehem, Free State Washington State Cougars men's track and field athletes Washington State University alumni {{SouthAfrica-athletics-bio-stub