Gold Medalist Oerter Dead At 71
After the New York Mets completed the [biggest collapse in baseball history] yesterday, New Yorkers really needed something to celebrate. Al Oerter, the discus thrower who won gold medals in four straight Olympics and who [died this morning](http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=3044699), is someone well worth the citys remembrance and applause.
Oerter, who was born in Astoria, New York and grew up in New Hyde Park, won gold medals in the 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics. He and the great [Carl Lewis] are the only two track and field competitors ever to capture the same event in four consecutive Olympics. Oerter, however, is the only one to set an Olympic record in each of his victories. In his later life, he fell in love with abstract painting and avidly participated in [Art of the Olympians](http://artoftheolympians.com/).
Oerter died at a hospital near his home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound athlete died from complications due to high-blood pressure and heart troubles, according to his wife, Cathy. He was a gentle giant, she said. He was bigger than life. Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the United States Olympic Committee, also had nothing but praise for the Olympian. His legacy is one of an athlete who embodied all of the positive attributes associated with being an Olympian, he said. He performed on the field of play with distinction and transferred that excellence to the role of advocate for the Olympic movement and its ideals. Oerter died at 71.