Born January 28, 1932, Santa Monica, Calif.

William "Parry" O'Brien revolutionized the shot put and the former University of Southern California standout made the "O'Brien Style" the accepted way to throw the 16-pound ball. His method of facing the back of the circle and using a 180-degree turn to shift the weight to the front of the circle helped him improve the world record 16 times.

He improved the world record from 59-2 1/4 in 1953 to 63-2 in 1956 and during one period in the 1950s won 116-straight competitions. Also an excellent discus thrower, O'Brien won two national collegiate titles while at USC. Overall, he won 18 National AAU championships, 17 of them in the shot. Indoors, he won nine-straight shot titles and outdoors had a string of five. A veteran of four Olympic Games, he was the champion in 1952 and 1956 before dropping to second in 1960 and fourth in 1964. He was also the Pan-American Games champion in 1955 and 1959. The 1959 winner of the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete, O'Brien later became a banker in California. He was elected to U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984.