 Torrance in 1933 | |
| No. 34 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Tackle |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1912-06-20)June 20, 1912 Oak Grove, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 1969(1969-11-10) (aged 57) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Oak Grove (LA) |
| College | LSU |
| Career history | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
John Torrance (June 20, 1912 – November 10, 1969)[1] was anAmericanshot putter andAmerican football player. Torrance broke the shot putworld record several times in 1934, his eventual best mark of 17.40 m remaining unbeaten until 1948. At the1936 Summer Olympics he placed fifth.
Torrance studied atLouisiana State University, competing for theLSU Tigers in a variety of sports and events. Although shot put was his best event, he was also a gooddiscus thrower,football player andbasketball player.[2] In 1933, hisjunior year, he won his firstNCAA 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 favoredUniversity of Southern California.[5][6] Torrance also won thenational championship in the shot that year, throwing 15.68 m (51 ft4+7⁄8 in) to beatStanford'sGordon Dunn andJohn Lyman.[7] His winning mark at the NCAAs was the best in the world that year and only four inches short ofFrantišek 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 inLafayette 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 ft3⁄4 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 ft1+1⁄2 in) at theDrake 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 ft6+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 inMilwaukee, Lyman improved to 16.70 m (54 ft9+1⁄2 in), better than Torrance's NCAA mark; however, Torrance won with 16.89 m (55 ft5+1⁄4 in), breaking his own world record.[7]
Torrance then went on a European tour. He set his final world record atBislett inOslo 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 ft10+5⁄8 in) with his right hand and 11.95 m (39 ft2+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 ft11+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 ft5+1⁄2 in), ahead of Germany'sHans Woellke and Lyman.[8] With theOlympic Games inBerlin 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 theUnited States Olympic Trials.[20] In Berlin, he only managed 15.38 m (50 feet5+1⁄2 in), placing him fifth.[1]
After the Olympics, Torrance turned his attention to other sports. He debuted as aboxer 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 tofix his matches.[29] Torrance himself was found not to have played a part and continued his boxing career.[29] On April 28, 1937 he wasknocked out in the second round byAbe Simon[30][31] and his boxing career subsequently went on a downward spiral.[32]
He subsequently worked briefly as apoliceman, acar salesman and as custodian of the oldLouisiana State House.[33][34] In 1939 he signed withChicago Bears of theNational Football League.[35] He playedtackle in a total of fifteen games in1939 and1940.[36]
Torrance's shot put world record outlasted his sports career, remaining in the books untilCharlie Fonville threw 17.68 m (58 ft1⁄4 in) on April 17, 1948.[10][37] Torrance was inducted in theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.[38] He died in November 1969 of aheart attack.[38] In 2015, Torrance was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in New York City.
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's Shot Put World Record Holder (unofficial) March 24, 1934 – April 21, 1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Men's Shot Put World Record Holder April 27, 1934 – April 17, 1948 | Succeeded by |
