Discus Throw Placing Name of Contestant Representing Distance 1st ALFRED OERTER UNITED STATES 184' 10y2"* 2nd FORTUNE GORDIEN UNITED STATES 179' 9l/2" 3rd DESMOND KOCH UNITED STATES 178' 51/2" 4th Mark Pharoah Great Britain 178' OVi” 5th Otta Grigalka Russia 1 7 1 ' 91/2" 6th Adolfo Consolini Italy 17 1' 3 1/2" * New Olympic mark, old record was 180' 6V2”. Discus throwing honors were monopolized by USA athletes. At left is Desmond Koch, bronze medalist; in the center is champion Al Oerter, and at the right is Fortune Gordien. All three medals in the discus throw were taken by Am­ ericans but there were some surprises. Al Oerter, 20 year old Kansas University athlete, broke the Olympic mark to beat out teammate Fortune Gordien who was making his third quest for a gold medal, and Des Koch, Adolfo Con­ solini, Italy, who had won in 1948 and was runnerup in 1952, could only place sixth. Parry O’Brien, USA’s world record holding shot putter, gets off Oerter broke the Olympic mark of 180' 6V2" set in 1952 a toss that wins first place in the Olympic finals. by USA’s Sim Iness on his first throw, then improved the OFFICIAL SUMMARIES mark to 184' 10%" on his fourth attempt, that figure stand­ ft. ins. 12 K. Bukhantsev ing up to conclusion. 1 A . Oerter (U.S.) ... 56.36 (184 I0 i) (U.S.S.R.) ... 48.58 (159 4 i) 2 F. Gordien (U.S.) ... 54.81 (179 9 i) 13 S. Du Plessis Gordien, who holds the world mark of 194' 6", had 3 D . K o c h (U .S .) 54.40 (178 5 i) (S. Africa) ... 48.49 (159 I) placed third in 1948 and fourth in 1952, made his best 4 M. Pharaoh (G.B.) ... 54.27 (178 0*) 14 E. U d d eb o m (S w e d e n ) 48.28 (158 4£) 5 O . Grigalka (U.S.S.R.) 52.37 (171 9 i) 15 M . R akura (F iji) ... 47.24 (154 111) Olympic showing, twice bettering 179 feet, with his top 6 A . Consolini (Italy)... 52.21 (171 3 {) 16 H. Haddad (Chile) ... 46.00 (150 11) throw at 179' 9 V2" earning him the silver medal. Koch had 7 F. Klics (Hungary) ... 51.82 (170) 8 D. Radosavic (Yugo.) 51.69 (169 7) slipped to fourth place by the end of five rounds but tossed 9 B. Maceyev (U.S.S.R.) 51.38 (168 6 i) Non-qualifiers (qualifying distance the platter 178' 5V2" on his final attempt to edge Great 47 m. or 154' 2±'): P. Alard (France), 10 G . C a rr (G .B .) 50.72 (166 4 i) M. Ayub (Pakistan), V. Balodis (Australia), Britain’s Mike Pharoah who had 178' OV2" fo>r his best. 11 G . Kruse (Argentina) 49.89 (163 8) T. Rut (Poland). LEFT—Three-time Olympic competitor Fortune Gordien contemplates missing out again on gold medal success; RIGHT—Discus champion Al Oerter, USA, gets off his winning toss for an Olympic record. 77.