Richard Aldrich Babka (September 23, 1936 – January 15, 2022) was an American

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er. A former world record holder, Babka also won a silver medal in the discus event at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and baseball in addition to track and field at Palo Alto High School before graduating in 1954. He subsequently attended nearby Menlo College and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC). Knee injuries eventually obliged him to withdraw from USC's football and basketball teams, but as a discus thrower he continued to climb toward the top of the world rankings. Babka continued to compete as a discus thrower until 1969, when he retired to devote himself to various business pursuits. He later resided in California. Babka was also an artist with works on display with the Art of the Olympians, which was founded by fellow Olympic discus thrower and American Olympics teammate Al Oerter. He died on January 15, 2022, at the age of 85.

References

1936 births 2022 deaths American people of Polish descent American male discus throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Palo Alto High School alumni Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California USC Trojans men's track and field athletes Marshall School of Business alumni Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Menlo Oaks men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub