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WorldNet Service Installation Disk - Cybercathlon Games and Interactive Tour of Olympic Museum (1996).ISO
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00830_Field_st7.txt.txt
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1996-06-03
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The discus dates back to the
ancient Olympics. Made of metal
and varying in size and weight, the
discus was thrown back then
using a technique similar to that of
today's athletes.
The first modern Olympic winner in
the discus was an American
college student, Robert Garrett,
who was actually a shot putter
from Princeton. He had never
seen a discus before the
Olympics, but his performance
was good enough to defeat the
Greek champion's in 1896.
The greatest Olympic discus
thrower is American Al Oerter,
who won Gold in four straight
Olympics, from 1956 to 1968, each
time setting a new Olympic record. In each of his 4 Olympic
appearances, Oerter was never
the world record holder or the
favorite to win the event. Despite
agonizing injuries in Tokyo -- he
had a slipped disc, torn rib
cartilage and was bleeding
internally -- he threw for the Gold
and broke the Olympic record on
his final attempt, for a third Gold
medal. He went on to win a fourth,
at the age of 32, in Mexico City in
1968. Al Oerter is the only athlete
to ever win 4 consecutive Gold
medals in the same event in track &
field.