Parry O’Brien is undoubtedly the greatest Shot Putter of all time, by the standards of his contemporaries, although his world records have now been surpassed. He won a total of 17 Amateur Athletic Union shot put titles indoors and outdoors. In between July 1952 and June 1956, he ran up a winning streak of 116 in shot put at elite competitions.
O’Brien broke the world record 17 times, although only 10 of these were ratified. Parry O’Brien, stood 6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (189 cm) in height and weighed 245 pounds. (111 kgs). He revolutionized shot-putting technique, became the first man to reach 18-meter, 59-feet, 60-feet, 19-meter, 61-feet, 62-feet and 63-feet barriers. O’Brien set his last world record in 1959, with 63-4 (19.30m).
He competed in four consecutive Summer Olympic Games where he won two gold medals (Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956) and one silver medal (Rome 1960). In his last Olympic competition (Tokyo 1964) he was placed fourth. He continued to improve and set a career best of 64-7¼ (19.69m) in 1966, two years after his final Olympic appearance.
O’Brien won the National Collegiate Athletic Association title in 1952 and 1953. He also added the 1955 Amateur Athletic Union discus championship. While at Southern California, he was Pan American Games champion of Shot Put in Mexico City 1955 and Chicago 1959. In discus throw, he also won two medals at the Pan American Games - silver in 1955 and bronze in 1959.
Apart from his multiple victories and records, O’Brien made a significant contribution to the sport by pioneering a new style which was accepted by many of his admirers. For all of these accomplishments, O’Brien was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ‘Hall of Fame’ and U. S. Olympic ‘Hall of Fame.’
Birth and Growth
William Parry O’Brien Jr. was born on January 28, 1932 in Santa Monica, California, United States. O’Brien began putting the shot in high school in Santa Monica, where he also threw the discus, was a sprinter, and played football. He won the non-standard 16-pound shot put competition for high schoolers at the California State Meet in 1949.
He was then awarded an athletic scholarship in football to the University of Southern California. O’Brien continued to play football as a freshman until he was kicked in the stomach during practice and injured. He then decided to concentrate on athletics and chose shot put and discus throw.
He surpassed all other shot-putters and toured Europe with a selected American team, competing in the discus and on the relay team as well as putting the shot. At the University of Southern California, O’Brien could not surpass 55 feet. In 1951, after losing to Otis Chandler in the Fresno Relays, he returned home to Santa Monica, California.
At 0300, the next morning, by street lights on a vacant lot next door, he experimented with a 180-degree turn. The theory, he said later, was that “the longer you are pushing, the farther the shot will go.” Now, shot-putters push even longer, spinning like discus throwers before releasing the shot.
He took 150 practice puts a day and said, “I don’t quit until my hands bleed, and that’s the God’s truth.” He studied physics, aerodynamics, religions and yoga, anything he thought might help him put the shot farther.
Along the way, he developed his signature “O’Brien Style” of shot-put throwing, turning his entire body 180 degrees to generate momentum for his throw. O’Brien developed the new style by himself, and it was ultimately adopted by all shot-putters.
The Los Angeles Times described the new method developed by O’Brien for putting the 16-pound shot: “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.”
During his career, he won 18 Amateur Athletic Union championships, combined outdoor and indoor, 17 in the shot put, and one in the discus throw. He won nine consecutive national indoor shot-put championships, and also eight overall outdoors, including five in a row. O’Brien’s success with his new style was stunning and he became the first to put the shot 60 feet in 1954.
As a competitor, in addition to developing new techniques for the shot put, he also made motivational tapes for himself, and experimented with Yoga. The Time magazine, in a cover story written before the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, noted, “None has been more successful than O’Brien in combining what he calls “M. A.” (mental attitude) and “P. A.” (physical aptitude). He received the James E. Sullivan award in 1959 for the United States’ Top Amateur Athlete.
Helsinki 1956 Olympic Games
At the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games, 20 athletes from 14 nations competed. The competition was held on July 21, 1952. In the first round of the final, O’Brien reached a distance of 17.41m, which gave him the lead, holding on until the final round when Hooper’s 17.39m put him just two centimetres short of a gold medal.
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were: World Record – Jim Fuchs (USA) 17.95 at Eskilstuna, Sweden on August 22, 1950; Olympic Record – Jim Delaney (USA) 17.12 in London on August 3, 1948.
The American team was favoured to repeat its medal sweep of 1948, with Fuchs (now the world record holder), Parry O’Brien, and Darrow Hooper all within two inches of each other at the US trials. O’Brien broke the Olympic record in his first throw of the final, at 17.41m and it was the best throw of the day. O’Brien’s second throw (17.21m) and Darrow Hooper’s final throw (17.39m) also exceeded the old record.
O’Brien won the gold medal, setting an Olympic record of 17.41m. The finals were swept by the United States. It was the 10th victory for an American in the event, and the fifth medal sweep for the United States.
The Olympic Medallists: Gold - Parry O’Brien (USA) 17.41; Silver - Darrow Hooper (USA) 17.39; Bronze - Jim Fuchs (USA) 17.06.
Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games
14 shot putters from 10 nations competed at Melbourne 1956. By then, O’Brien had held the world record for three years and added a meter and a quarter to the previous record, including the current world record he had set just two months earlier. He was also the defending champion.
The standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1956 Olympics: World Record – Parry O’Brien (USA) 19.25 in Los Angeles on November 1, 1956; Olympic Record – Parry O’Brien (USA) 17.41 in Helsinki on July 21, 1952.
O’Brien has “established himself as the greatest putter in the world,” having broken the world record multiple times since the previous Games.
On his first throw, O’Brien improved upon his own Olympic record with a 17.92m. He extended his new record on his second throw (18.47m) and fifth throw (18.57m), though all six of his throws were beyond the old record.
His best throw was in the fifth round, his third Olympic record of the day 18.57m (60 ft 11 in). Interestingly, any of O’Brien’s last five throws would have earned him the gold medal.
O’Brien’s victory was the third consecutive and 11th overall victory for an American shot putter. He was the fourth man to win two shot put medals and the second man to win two gold medals. It was the third straight Games in which the USA took the first two places.
The Olympic Medallists: Gold - Parry O’Brien (USA) 18.57; Silver - Bill Nieder (USA) 18.18; Bronze - Jiri Skobla (Czechoslovakia) 17.65.
Rome 1960 Olympic Games
24 athletes from 16 nations competed. Returning finalists from the 1956 Games included, two-time champion O’Brien, American silver medallist Bill Nieder, and bronze medallist Jiri Skobla of Czechoslovakia.
The standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1960 Olympics: World – Bill Nieder (USA) 20.06 at Walnut, US on August 12, 1960; Olympic – Parry O’Brien (USA) 17.92 in Melbourne on November 28, 1956.
All three Americans who came to Rome – Parry O’Brien, Bill Nieder, and Dallas Long had held the world record at some point since the previous Games, with Nieder the first to break 20 metres earlier in August 1960.
O’Brien, with his gold medals in 1952 and 1956, had matched the feat of Ralph Rose (gold in 1904 and 1908, silver in 1912).
At the Olympics, Nieder broke the Olympic record first, putting the shot 18.67m in his first throw of the final. O’Brien quickly bettered that by 10 cm in his first throw. Long beat them both with 18.88m in his second.
Nieder’s second throw equalled O’Brien’s first, O’Brien’s second put the Olympic record over 19m for the first time at 19.11m. None of the men could better that on their third or fourth throws, but Nieder’s fifth went 19.68m to win the gold and finish with the new record. O’Brien had to settle with the silver.
The Olympic Medallists: Gold – Bill Nieder (USA) 19.68; Silver – Parry O’Brien (USA) 18.39; Bronze – Dallas Long (USA) 19.01.
World Record Progression
The first world record recognized by the IAAF in the men’s shot put was 15.54 m by Ralph Rose of the USA at San Francisco on August 21, 1909. This record lasted almost 19 years, and was untouched for almost a dozen years surrounding WWII.
O’Brien using his “O’Brien Style” started a streak of his own that ran from July 1952 to June 1956 in which he won 116 consecutive competitions. O’Brien held the world record from 1953 to 1959, increasing the distance from 18m (59 feet 3/4 inches) to 19.30m (63 feet 4 inches). His Personal Bests: Shot Put 19.69m in 1966 and Discuss Throw 59.99m in 1965.
The IAAF ratified world records of Parry O’Brien in shot put: 18.00m on May 9, 1953 in Fresno, USA; 18.04m on June 5, 1953 in Compton, USA; 18.42m on May 8, 1954 in Los Angeles, USA; 18.43m on May 21, 1954 in Los Angeles, USA; 18.54m on June 11, 1954 in Los Angeles, USA; 18.62m on May 5, 1956 at Salt Lake City, USA; 18.69m on June 15, 1956 in Los Angeles, USA; 19.06m on September 3, 1956 in Eugene, USA; 19.25m on November 1,19956 in Los Angeles, USA; 19.30m on August 1, 1959 in Albuquerque, USA.
Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games
In 1964, O’Brien was the flag bearer for the American Olympic Team at the Tokyo Olympics. He could manage only the fourth position in the shot-put competition.
In 1966, in his 19th season, he improved his distance to 19.69m. After graduating from the university, he retired from elite competitions and did occasional television sports commentary.
In 1966, O’Brien worked in the banking and real estate business in Southern California. In 1971, at the Senior Sports International competition, O’Brien won both the shot and discus events. He remained active in masters athletics, and he put a six-kilogram shot 58’1½” (17.72 m) at age 50 in 1984. Later, in the 1990s he began swimming because athletics put too much stress on his joints.
O’Brien was inducted into the National Track and Field ‘Hall of Fame’ of the United States in 1974. Next, he was chosen for the U. S. Olympic ‘Hall of Fame’ in 1984.
Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games
The ‘Olympic Flag’ was carried by O’Brien and other former United States medallists around the stadium infield during the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. He was inducted in the University of Southern California Athletic ‘Hall of Fame’ in 1994.
O’Brien died of a heart attack on April 21, 2007 at Santa Clarita, California, 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 75 and living in Rancho Belago, California, west of Palm Springs.
He is survived by his wife, Terri; two daughters, Shauna and Erin; two stepsons, Erik and Norman; and seven grandchildren. O’Brien was previously married to Sandra Cordrey (March 1955) and Arden Arena (June 1960).
O’Brien Style and Legacy
The shot put, is an Olympic Games event in the discipline of track and field. In shot put, a spherical weight is thrown, or put, from the shoulder for distance. It derives from the ancient sport of putting the stone. The first to use a shot (cannon ball) instead of a stone competitively were British military sportsmen. Although the weight varied in early events from 3.63 to 10.9 kg, a standard, weight of 7.26 kg (16 pounds) was adopted for men at the first modern Olympic Games of Athens 1896. The event was added to the women’s Olympic program in London 1948 and the shot used was 4 kg (8.8 pounds).
The shot is put from a circle 2.135m (7 feet) in diameter into a 40° sector as measured from the centre of the circle. The circle has a stop board 10 cm (4 inches) high at its front; if the competitor steps on or out of the circle, the throw is invalidated. The shot is put with one hand and must be held near the chin to start. It may not drop below or behind shoulder level at any time.
Shot-putters are among the largest athletes in track and field, the most massive ranging from 250 to 300 pounds. The IAAF recognizes the first official world record as 9.44m by J. M. Mann of the United States in 1876 whilst Robert Garrett of the United States established the first Olympic Record of 11.22m at Athens 1896 Olympics.
Beginning in the 1950s, the “O’Brien Style” of putting was popularized, with outstanding results. It involved a 180-degree turn across the ring, getting more speed and momentum into the action. The putting action is best described as shoving the shot, because the rules require that the arm may not extend behind the shoulders during the putting action.
By 1956, O’Brien had doubled Mann’s record with a put of 19.06m, and with this success, his style was universally imitated. O’Brien was the best exponent of the style and using his method “O’Brien Style” or “O’Brien Glide,” he was able to break the world record 17 times, becoming the first man to put the 16-pound shot more than 60 feet, raising the record from 17.95m to 19.30m and winning over one hundred consecutive competitions.
(The author is an Associate Professor, International Scholar, winner of Presidential Awards and multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He possesses a PhD, MPhil and double MSc. His email is [email protected])