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 (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

champion. He competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals (

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

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

) and one silver medal ( 1960). In his last Olympic competition ( 1964) 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 language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, Parry was very active in sports at Santa Monica High School, 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-st ...

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

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

competition at the 1949 CIF California State Meet. 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 (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, for the shot put and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

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

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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 continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, in a cover story written during the week before the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

, noted "None has been more successful than O'Brien in combining what he calls 'M.A.' (mental attitude) and 'P.A.' (physical aptitude)." He won consecutive gold medals in the

and 1956 Olympics, becoming the first man to retain his Olympic shot put title since Ralph Rose of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

won the gold medal in 1904 and 1908. During the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

, 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 of the United States in 1974. He was chosen for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984, and then the University 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 managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics (sport), athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross ...

, and he put a six-kilogram shot 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).

References

External links

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Parry O'Brien
on You Bet Your Life {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Parry 1932 births 2007 deaths American male shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Santa Monica, California World record setters in athletics (track and field) University of Southern California alumni Sports deaths in California James E. Sullivan Award recipients American masters athletes Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USC Trojans men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen