Rink Babka
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nickname | Rink | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Richard Aldrich Babka September 23, 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 15, 2022 (aged 85) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 267 lb (121 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Discus throw | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Menlo College USC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best | 63.93 metres (209 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Richard Aldrich Babka (September 23, 1936 – January 15, 2022) was an American discus thrower. A former world record holder, Babka also won a silver medal in the discus event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.[1]
He starred in football, basketball, 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 (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.[2] He died on January 15, 2022, at the age of 85.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Rink Babka". Olympedia. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
- ^ "Art of the Olympians - Richard Aldrich "Rink" Babka". artoftheolympians.org.
   | This article about a track and field Olympic medalist of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 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 the sport of athletics
- 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 Santa Clara County, 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
- American track and field athletics Olympic medalist stubs