Jack Torrance

Jack Torrance (June 20, 1912 – November 10, 1969) was an American shot putter and American football player. 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. 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. In addition, he placed third in the discus. LSU won the NCAA team title that year, narrowly beating favored University of Southern California. Torrance also won the national championship in the shot that year, throwing 15.68 m (51 ft in) to beat Stanford's Gordon Dunn and John Lyman. 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.

Torrance reached his peak in 1934, becoming the world's leading shot putter. Torrance broke Douda's world record in Lafayette on March 24, throwing 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in). Lyman tied that mark on April 14 and then threw 16.48 m (54 ft in) on April 21, setting a new world record. However, that record lasted for only six days as Torrance improved to 16.80 m (55 ft in) at the Drake Relays. In May, he reached 17.19 m (56 ft 5 in) in an unofficial exhibition. However, he failed to qualify for the discus final. At the June 30 national championships in Milwaukee, Lyman improved to 16.70 m (54 ft in), better than Torrance's NCAA mark; however, Torrance won with 16.89 m (55 ft in), breaking his own world record. In a separate competition in the same meet, he threw 16.73 m (54 ft in) with his right hand and 11.95 m (39 ft in) with his left hand to break the world record total for both hands by one centimeter. In total, he had ten competitions of 16.45 m (53 ft in) or better during 1934. but one of America's top prospects in any event.

Torrance, though, was badly overweight by the summer of 1936, weighing 325 pounds in July. Attempts to reduce his weight ahead of the Olympics were unsuccessful. He had also cut down on training. Even so, he entered the Olympics as the world leader and winner of the United States Olympic Trials. His next three bouts were also quick knock-out wins. In the aftermath of an aborted February 1937 fight, however, his manager Herbert Brodie was suspended and fined for attempting to fix his matches. On April 28, 1937 he was knocked out in the second round by Abe Simon and his boxing career subsequently went on a downward spiral.

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

Torrance's shot put world record outlasted his sports career, remaining in the books until Charlie Fonville threw 17.68 m (58 ft in) on April 17, 1948. Torrance was inducted in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961. In 2015, Torrance was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in New York City.