Press Release :

Tribute: Death of an Olympic Hero

This week Al Oerter died. He and long jumper Carl Lewis are the only Olympic athletes to win athletics gold medals in four consecutive Games. Oerter won his first Olympic gold medal in 1956, then added titles in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Each time he set an Olympic record. During Olympics 2000, I addressed hundreds of people each night in meetings celebrating the achievements of the Olympians that day. One night about 3000 people overflowed Wesley Theatre. Scores of Gold Medal winners gave testimony to their faith in Jesus Christ over the two weeks.

As a former Olympic Chaplain and friend of many great athletes, I spoke on the life and achievements of athletes I had known. One of them was Al Oerter. Here is some of my talk made in 2000:

Al Oerter – The Secret of Inner Strength

Beverley and I recently went to a dinner with many Olympic champions and officials present. Among them, Sandy Hollway, Herb Elliott, Arthur Tunstall, and many others. Seated next to us was John Devitt, former Captain of the Australian Olympic Swimming Teams in our golden years at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and the 1958 Commonwealth Games. John was the men’s 100 metres world record holder and a gold medallist from the Rome Olympics.Over dinner, talking about great Olympic champions, I asked John if he had ever met Al Oerter, the American Discus thrower. I regard him as one of the greatest athletes of all time. To my surprise he told me that Al Oerter had just flown to Australia to speak at a dinner of past Olympic Champions.

Al Oerter discovered his discus ability when he idly picked up the discus and threw it farther than anyone else on the University track team could. Al Oerter won consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1956 in Melbourne, in 1960 in Rome, in 1964 in Tokyo, and in 1968 in Mexico City. No-one else has done this.

During his career he set new world records four times. He was the first to throw the discus more than 200 feet which was believed to be an unbreakable barrier. I met him in Melbourne in 1956 and as an impressionable 17 year old athlete, I have followed the career of this man, who is just three years older than I am.

What stands in my memory happened in Mexico City in 1968. In his first throw, he slipped and ripped the cartilage in his rib cage, a devastating injury for a discus thrower. He was bleeding internally, his breathing was hampered and his rib-cage hurt terribly.

This is an incredibly painful injury. I know this from personal experience.

He refused to leave. He passed on the next four throws and stepped into the circle for his last attempt. Ignoring the pain, he wound down like a coiled spring and then started into the throwers spin. He cried out in a loud voice, “God, give me strength!” and let go. The 2 kilogram discus flew from his hand and landed with a new world and Olympic record and his fourth gold medal! Al Oerter is an Olympic legend and a man of God.

Isaiah encourages the Israelites while they were captives in Babylon, by reminding them of God’s power “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not e faint.” Isaiah 40

God gives strength. Old age takes it from us. We do not dream the dreams we once did, nor see the visions. We become weak and tired, and some fall exhausted. “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

The scripture teaches we have neither the power to please God nor cope with the demands of living. In our own strength regardless of our natural abilities we can never be what God wants us to be, nor effectively cope with the ups and downs of life. We need God. God meets our needs by giving us the Holy Spirit who provides additional energy supply. Every one of us needs to discover the source of inner energy. The New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit is our alternative source of energy. What a promise of inner power!”

Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.