Gordien, Fortune E.
Track and field
b. Sept. 9, 1922, Spokane, WA
Though he held the world discus record for ten years and competed in three Olympics, Gordien never won a gold medal. He finished third in 1948, fourth in 1952, and second in 1956.
Representing the University of Minnesota, Gordien won three consecutive NCAA championships, from 1946 through 1948, and he was the AAU national discus champion seven times, from 1946 through 1950 and in 1953 and 1954. Gordien claimed the world record for the first time with a throw of 185 feet, 2 3/4 inches in 1949. Later that year he extended the record to 186-11.
Sim Iness of Southern California became the first to throw the discus more than 190 feet, at the 1953 NCAA national championship meet. Soon afterward, on August 22, 1953, Gordien shattered Iness's record with a prodigious 194-6. That stood until 1959.
Gordien was also a world class shot-putter, though he never won a major championship in the event. He finished second in the national championships and third in the NCAA championships in 1947. His throw of 52 feet, 2 1/4 inches in the NCAA meet was the fifth best in the world that year.