Ken Carpenter (athlete)
Carpenter at the 1936 Olympics | ||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born |
April 19, 1913 Compton, California, U.S. | |||||||||
Died |
March 15, 1984 (aged 70) Buena Park, California, U.S. | |||||||||
Alma mater | University of Southern California | |||||||||
Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||
Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | |||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||
Event(s) | Discus throw | |||||||||
Club | USC Trojans, Los Angeles | |||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 53.08 m (1936)[1][2] | |||||||||
Medal record
|
William Kenneth "Ken" Carpenter (April 19, 1913 – March 15, 1984) was an American discus thrower. He won the NCAA and AAU titles in 1935 and 1936, becoming the first two-time NCAA champion in a weight throw event from the University of Southern California (USC). In 1936 Carpenter won an Olympic gold medal,[1] and between 1936 and 1940 held the American record in the discus.[3]
Carpenter graduated from Compton High School, where he was a track and field star. After attending USC, he went on to serve in the United States Navy, and then began a 33-year-long career as a coach and teacher at the College of the Sequoias and Compton Community College. In 2003 he was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.[3]
Carpenter appears in Leni Riefenstahl's film Olympia about the 1936 Olympic Games. He is also mentioned by Viktor Chemmel, a character in Markus Zusak's 2006 bestselling novel The Book Thief.
References
- 1 2 Ken Carpenter. sports-reference.com
- ↑ Kenneth Carpenter. trackfield.brinkster.net
- 1 2 2003 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall Of Fame Announced. usctrojans.com (October 19, 2002)
External links
- About Compton: City of Champions – Sports
- History of Summer Olympics: 1928 – 1932 – 1936 provided by FrankWykoff.com