Peter Rasmus (May 5, 1906 – February 6, 1975) was an American
discus thrower. Rasmus won the
NCAA discus championship in
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
, breaking the meeting record and exceeding the officially listed
world record.
Career
Rasmus attended
Ohio State University from 1926 to 1929, winning several individual and team titles with the
Ohio State Buckeyes. As a
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
he was only a 125 ft (38 m) thrower,
but he improved rapidly, winning the 1927
Big Ten championship
and placing sixth at the
NCAA championships.
Rasmus repeated as Big Ten champion in 1928 and 1929.
In March 1929 he threw 157 ft (47.85 m) in
Dallas, less than half a meter down on
Bud Houser
Lemuel Clarence "Bud" Houser (September 25, 1901 – October 1, 1994) was an American field athlete. He won Olympic gold medals in the discus throw in 1924 and 1928 and in the shot put in 1924.
Biography
Houser was born in Winigan, Missouri, b ...
's official world record of 158 ft in (48.20 m).
At the 1929 NCAA meet Rasmus was up against two throwers who had unofficially broken Houser's record earlier that year,
Eric Krenz
Eric Christian William Krenz (May 7, 1906 – August 18, 1931) was an American shot putter and discus thrower. Krenz set two world records in the discus and was considered a favorite for the 1932 Summer Olympics, but his career was cut short when ...
of
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
and
Ed Moeller of
Oregon. The field also included 1928 Olympian (and 1932
Olympic champion)
John Anderson John Anderson may refer to:
Business
*John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland
* John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...
of
Cornell
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and future world record holder
Paul Jessup of
Washington.
Rasmus led the preliminary rounds with a throw of 159 ft in (48.51 m), breaking the meeting record and exceeding Houser's still official world record.
Moeller had an even longer throw, but fouled.
Rasmus' mark held up in the final rounds, and he won the championship;
as he had broken Houser's mark, his throw was publicized as a new world record,
but it was inferior to the unratified records of Krenz and Moeller and, as Krenz's record was eventually ratified, never received an official status.
Led by Rasmus and sprinter
George Simpson, Ohio State also won the 1929 NCAA team title, their first in any sport.
Rasmus graduated from Ohio State that year, but continued competing occasionally; he unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
.
Legacy
Rasmus was inducted in the
Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame in 1989.
References
1906 births
1975 deaths
Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes
Sportspeople from Ashtabula, Ohio
American people of Finnish descent
American male discus throwers
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
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