Andrew Bloom (born August 11, 1973) is an American former Olympic

shot putter The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival (1896), and women's competition beg ...

, two-time national indoor shot put champion,

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

shot put champion, and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

champion in both discus and shot put.

Early and personal life

Bloom is Jewish, and was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He later lived in

Niskayuna, New York Niskayuna is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 23,278 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeast part of the county, east of the city of Schenectady, and is the easternmost town in the county. ...

, where he attended

Niskayuna High School Niskayuna High School is a public high school in Niskayuna, New York, United States, and is the only high school operated by the Niskayuna Central School District. History Niskayuna High School opened in 1957 after the Board of Education recom ...

, graduating in 1991. While there, he set a New York State high school discus throw record in 1991, with a distance of 202 feet, 9 inches. He earned a master's degree in mathematics education from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in 1998. He is married, and lives in

Vacaville Vacaville is a city located in Solano County, California, United States. It is located from Sacramento, California, Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is on the edge of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The city was founded in ...

, California. He currently teaches mathematics at

Ohlone College Ohlone College (Ohlone or OC; ) is a public community college, a member of the California Community College System, with its main campus in Fremont and a second campus in Newark. The Ohlone Community College District serves Fremont, Newark ...

in Fremont, CA.

Shot put and discus career

Bloom attended Wake Forest University as an undergraduate, graduating in 1996. At Wake Forest, he earned All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

honors each year. As a senior, he won both the

shot put (65–0.5; personal record) and discus (211–1) championships. He became the eighth male in NCAA history to win that double. Bloom won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the discus at the 1997 World University Games, and was ranked third in the US in the discus in 1997. In 1998, he won a silver medal in discus (209–10) at the

1998 Goodwill Games The 1998 Goodwill Games was the fourth edition of the international sports competition the Goodwill Games, which were created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The competition was held ...

, and was third in shot put (66–11.25 PR) at the USA Indoors and third in discus (217–11 PR) at the USA Outdoors. In 1999, he won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the shot and a silver medal in discus at the 1999 World University Games. He was also fourth in shot put at the World Outdoor Championships in 1999 (20.95 m). He won the shot put at the USA Indoor Championships in 1999 and 2000, with a personal record throw of 70–10.5 in the latter. He was ranked fifth in the world in both shot put and discus in 1999, and third in the US in shot put and second in discus. Bloom made the US Olympic team in 2000, with a throw of 70–10.75. He placed fourth at the Sydney

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, with a throw of 68–5.75 (20.87 m). He finished 2000 ranked second in the world, and with a season-best mark of 71–7.25. He was honored by the US Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Coaching career

He serves as Assistant Coach at the

University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was ...

. He is also the strength and conditioning coach for the UC Davis athletics program.

References

External links

USATF bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Andy 1973 births Living people American male shot putters American male discus throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States People from Niskayuna, New York UC Davis Aggies track and field coaches Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Vacaville, California Sportspeople from Schenectady, New York Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut Track and field athletes from Connecticut Track and field athletes from New York (state) Jewish American track and field athletes FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 21st-century American Jews People from Stamford, Connecticut Jews from Connecticut NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen