Jack Torrance (athlete)

John "Jack" Torrance (June 20, 1912 – November 10, 1969)^[1] was an American shot putter. Torrance broke the shot put world record several times in 1934, his eventual best mark of 17.40 m remaining unbeaten until 1948. At the 1936 Summer Olympics he placed fifth.

Biography

Torrance studied at Louisiana State University, competing for the LSU Tigers in a variety of sports and events. Although shot put was his best event, he was also a good discus thrower, football player and basketball player.^[2] In 1933, his junior year, he won his first NCAA championship in the shot, throwing a meet record 16.10 m (52 ft 10 in) to beat his challengers by more than two feet.^[3] In addition, he placed third in the discus.^[4] LSU won the NCAA team title that year, narrowly beating favored University of Southern California.^[5][6] Torrance also won the national championship in the shot that year, throwing 15.68 m (51 ft 4 ⁷⁄₈ in) to beat Stanford's Gordon Dunn and John Lyman.^[7] His winning mark at the NCAAs was the best in the world that year and only four inches short of František Douda's world record of 16.20 m.^[8][9][10]

Torrance reached his peak in 1934, becoming the world's leading shot putter.^[9] His main rival that year was John Lyman.^[9][11] Torrance broke Douda's world record in Lafayette on March 24, throwing 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in).^[11][12] Lyman tied that mark on April 14^[11][13] and then threw 16.48 m (54 ft ³⁄₄ in) on April 21, setting a new world record.^[10][14][15] However, that record lasted for only six days as Torrance improved to 16.80 m (55 ft 1 ¹⁄₂ in) at the Drake Relays.^[10][14] In May, he reached 17.19 m (56 ft 5 in) in an unofficial exhibition.^[9][11]

Torrance successfully defended both his NCAA title and his national title. At the 1934 NCAA championships he won with a put of 16.62 m (54 ft 6 ⁹⁄₁₆ in), defeating Lyman by almost a foot.^[3][11][16] However, he failed to qualify for the discus final.^[17] At the June 30 national championships in Milwaukee, Lyman improved to 16.70 m (54 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in), better than Torrance's NCAA mark; however, Torrance won with 16.89 m (55 ft 5 ¹⁄₄ in), breaking his own world record.^[7]

Torrance then went on a European tour. He set his final world record at Bislett in Oslo on August 5, throwing 17.40 m (57 ft 1 in).^[9][10][18] In a separate competition in the same meet, he threw 16.73 m (54 ft 10 ⁵⁄₈ in) with his right hand and 11.95 m (39 ft 2 ³⁄₈ in) with his left hand to break the world record total for both hands by one centimeter.^[19] In total, he had ten competitions of 16.45 m (53 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in) or better during 1934.^[20]

While Torrance did not improve his record in 1935, he remained the world's leading shot putter.^[9] He was national champion both in the indoors and outdoors event^[1] and topped the world list at 16.60 m (54 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in), ahead of Germany's Hans Woellke and Lyman.^[8] With the Olympic Games in Berlin less than a year away, he was considered not only a clear favorite for the Olympic shot put,^[9] but one of America's top prospects in any event.^[21]

Torrance, though, was badly overweight by the summer of 1936, weighing 325 pounds in July.^[22] Attempts to reduce his weight ahead of the Olympics were unsuccessful.^[23] He had also cut down on training.^[20] Even so, he entered the Olympics as the world leader^[24] and winner of the United States Olympic Trials.^[20] In Berlin, he only managed 15.38 m (50 feet 5 ¹⁄₂ in), placing him fifth.^[1]

After the Olympics, Torrance turned his attention to other sports. He debuted as a boxer in December 1936, knocking out Owen Flynn in the first round.^[25][26][27] His next three bouts were also quick knock-out wins.^[28] In the aftermath of an aborted February 1937 fight, however, his manager Herbert Brodie was suspended and fined for attempting to fix his matches.^[29] Torrance himself was found not to have played a part and continued his boxing career.^[29] On April 28, 1937 he was knocked out in the second round by Abe Simon^[30][31] and his boxing career subsequently went on a downward spiral.^[32]

He subsequently worked briefly as a policeman, a car salesman and as custodian of the old Louisiana State House.^[33][34] In 1939 he signed with Chicago Bears of the National Football League.^[35] He played tackle in a total of fifteen games in 1939 and 1940.^[36]

Torrance's shot put world record outlasted his sports career, remaining in the books until Charlie Fonville threw 17.68 m (58 ft ¹⁄₄ in) on April 17, 1948.^[10][37] Torrance was inducted in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.^[38] He died in November 1969 of a heart attack.^[38]

References

External links

• Jack Torrance in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
• Jack Torrance at Sports-Reference

Records
Preceded by František Douda	Men's Shot Put World Record Holder (unofficial) 24 March 1934 – 21 April 1934	Succeeded by John Lyman
Preceded by John Lyman	Men's Shot Put World Record Holder 27 April 1934 – 17 April 1948	Succeeded by Charlie Fonville