William Patrick "Parry" O'Brien (January 28, 1932 – April 21, 2007) was an American

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's c ...

champion. He competed in four consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

where he won two gold medals (

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

) and one silver medal (

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

). In his last Olympic competition (

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

) he placed fourth. For all of these accomplishments, O'Brien was inducted into the IAAF and U.S. Olympic halls of fame.

Biography

Born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, Parry was very active in sports at

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

, playing end on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

that won the California state championship in 1948. He was then awarded an athletic scholarship in football to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He also won the (non-standard for high schoolers) 16-pound

competition at the 1949

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a dir ...

. He also finished in third place that year putting the standard 12-pound shot for high schoolers. O'Brien enrolled in college at U.S.C., where he continued to play football as a freshman until he was kicked in the stomach during practice and injured. He then decided to concentrate on

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 eve ...

, for the shot put and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

). In the early 1950s, O'Brien developed a new method for putting the 16-pound shot. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described it:

When O'Brien began throwing the shot, the standard method was to rock back on one leg, swing the other in front for balance, hop forward and propel the iron ball forward. O'Brien instead began by facing the back of the circle. He then turned 180 degrees, using the spin to generate momentum and help him throw the shot greater distances.

Using this method he was able to break the world record in the shot put 17 times, becoming the first man to put the 16-pound shot more than 60 feet, and winning 116 consecutive meets in the shot put. This method became known as "O'Brien Style" or the "O'Brien Glide." He held the world record from 1953 to 1959. During his career he won 18 Amateur Athletic Union championships (combined outdoor and indoor), 17 in the shot put, plus one in the discus. He won nine consecutive national indoor shot put championships, and he won eight overall outdoors, including five in a row. As a competitor, in addition to developing new techniques for the shot put, he also made motivational tapes for himself, and experimented with Yoga. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine, in a cover story written during the week before the Melbourne Olympics, noted "None has been more successful than O'Brien in combining what he calls "M.A." (mental attitude) and "P.A." (physical aptitude)." He was the first man to retain his Olympic shot put title since Ralph Rose of the

United States 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

did so in 1904 and 1908. During the 1960

, O'Brien won the silver medal in one of the rare track meets that he did not win. In 1964, O'Brien was the flag bearer for the American Olympic Team at the Tokyo Olympic Games. O'Brien entered the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

of the United States in 1974. Next he was chosen for the

U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame The United States Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame is an honor roll of the top American Olympic and Paralympic athletes headquartered at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum, opened in April 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Hall ...

in 1984, and then the Univ. of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. After retiring from senior competitions O'Brien worked in the banking and real estate business in Southern California. He remained active in

masters athletics Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups (which promotes fair c ...

, and he put a six kilogram shot 58'1½ " (17.72 m) at age 50 in 1984. This distance, two feet further than the listed American Masters record in his age division is still pending. Later in the 1990s he began swimming because athletics put too much stress on his joints. O'Brien died at 75, of a heart attack in the 500 yard freestyle swimming pool at the Santa Clarita Aquatics club while he was competing in a Southern Pacific Masters Association regional swimming competition. He was survived by his wife Terri, stepsons Erik Skorge and Norman Skorge, and daughters Shauna and Erin. O'Brien was previously married to Sandra Cordrey (March 1955) and Arden Arena (June 1960).Parry O'Brien eyes honemoon in sunny Italy
''Californian'' (June 30, 1960) p. 41

References

External links

* * * *
Parry O'Brien
on

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...