Denman recalls fellow Olympian Al Oerter
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
As a U.S. Olympic teammate of Al Oerter in 1956, Elliott Denman didn't get to know him all that well.

"I was out walking and he was in the gym, weight training or throwing," recalled Denman, who was a race walker on that United States' Men's Track and Field Team that competed in Melbourne, Australia while Oerter was a discus thrower.

As years went by, however, Denman would get to know the legendary Olympic champion quite well. That's why it was with a touch of sadness that Denman recalled his fellow Olympian.

Oerter, who was the first athlete to win gold medals in the same event (discus) in four consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968), passed away on Oct. 1 at the age of 71 from heart failure. Track and field had lost one of its icons.

"Al competed in New Jersey a lot," said Denman. "He was very, very modest. He never flaunted it (Olympic success).

"He was a great, great competitor," he added. "He had that rare gift to be totally focused on the here and now and strike out the outside elements. He was the master of the occasion. No one did it better."

It was the Melbourne Olympics where the 6-foot-4 Oerter first forged his legend. He had just turned 20 and was a sophomore at the University of Kansas. With no prior track record of success in big competitions, he was a long shot to make the U. S. team, let alone win the gold, which is precisely what he did. On his very first throw of the competition, he unleashed a personal best of 184 feet, 11 inches that topped the former Olympic record. That throw would stand up and he had the first of his four gold medals.

Denman said that no one at the time could have foreseen what was to come from the young Oerter. It was a time when there was no money in track and field. Athletes took their best shot at one Olympics, or, if they were lucky, two at best. But something kept driving Oerter, who, after college, had a full-time job with Grumman aircraft company near his Long Island home.

"He just loved it (discus)," said Denman. "It was such a challenge for him. It's just you and the circle.

"Al was very analytical," he added. "He would break things down to each individual element and master them."

Denman pointed out that after college, Oerter had no formal coach and because of the way he went about studying his event, he was "ahead of the pack in so many ways."

It was that analytical approach to throwing and unshakable will that would help Oerter win gold again in Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964) and Mexico City (1968). Each win had its own unique story. In 1960, it was a comefrom behind win on his fifth throw. In 1964, it was overcoming the pain of torn rib cartilage. At the age of 32 in 1968, he was considered too old to be a threat. Yet, he went out and extended his Olympic record to 212 feet, six inches.

"He always had a calm confidence that psyched the others out," recalled Denman.

Although Carl Lewis would match Oerter's record of four straight wins in one event (long jump), Oerter is the only one to set an Olympic record with each effort.

Along with his four gold medals, Oerter set four world records including the 200-5 in 1962 that made him the first to throw the discus more than 200 feet. He was also a sixtime national champion and Pan-American Games gold medalist.

It's a record that puts Oerter alongside this country's greatest athletes in any sport and one of the true Olympic games legends.

"He had the unique ability to do his absolute best in the big meets, " said Denman.

After retiring prior to the 1972 Olympics, Oerter returned to the circle in 1980 in an attempt to make his fifth Olympic Team for the Moscow Olympic team. Anyone who thought it was sheer folly didn't know Oerter. He would finish fourth at the Trials, but what was most staggering was that at the age of 43, he would improve his personal best to 227 feet, 10 ¾ inches. It redefined what the body can do after 40 and gave a lift to Masters athletes everywhere.