Richard Aldrich Babka (September 23, 1936 – January 15, 2022) was an American

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. A former world record holder, Babka also won a silver medal in the discus event at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and baseball in addition to track and field at Palo Alto High School before graduating in 1954. He subsequently attended nearby

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC). Knee injuries eventually obliged him to withdraw from USC's football and basketball teams, but as a discus thrower he continued to climb toward the top of the world rankings. Babka continued to compete as a discus thrower until 1969, when he retired to devote himself to various business pursuits. He later resided in California. Babka was also an artist with works on display with the

Art of the Olympians Art of the Olympians (AOTO) is an organization and program of Olympian and Paralympian artists that promotes the Olympic ideals of values, integrity, character, respect, honor, and work ethic through exhibitions and educational programs. It puts ...

, which was founded by fellow Olympic discus thrower and American Olympics teammate

Al Oerter Alfred Oerter Jr. (September 19, 1936 – October 1, 2007) was an American athlete and a four-time Olympic Champion in the discus throw. He was the first athlete to win a gold medal in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympic Ga ...

. He died on January 15, 2022, at the age of 85.

References

1936 births 2022 deaths American people of Polish descent American male discus throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Palo Alto High School alumni Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California USC Trojans men's track and field athletes Marshall School of Business alumni Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Menlo College alumni Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub