| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard Aldrich Babka | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Rink | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 23, 1936 Cheyenne, WY | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 267 lb (121 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Discus throw | |||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Menlo College USC | |||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1969 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 63.93 metres (209 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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.svg.png "Silver medal – second place"){kind=icon}
Richard Aldrich "Rink" Babka (born September 23, 1936) is a retired 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.
He starred in football, basketball, 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 currently resides in California.
Babka is 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.[1]
References
- ^ "Art of the Olympians - Richard Aldrich "Rink" Babka". artoftheolympians.org.
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Edmund Piątkowski | Men's Discus World Record Holder August 12, 1960 – August 11, 1961 | Succeeded by Jay Silvester |