Richard Aldrich BABKA

Rink Babka briefly attended Menlo Junior College and then attended Southern Cal where he played football in addition to throwing the discus. As a senior he was NCAA discus champion. After winning the AAU discus in 1958, Rink Babka never again managed to win this particular title, although for the next 10 years he was never out of the first six, was runner-up on three occasions, and placed third three times. Babka set a world record of 196-6½ (59.91) in August 1960 before going to Rome where he placed second behind Al Oerter at the Olympics. Babka enjoyed a remarkably long career at the top, also winning silver at the 1967 Pan American Games, and his best mark ever came in 1968 when, at the age of 32, he threw 209-9 (63.93). He also signed an NFL contract with the San Francisco 49ers but never played in a regular season game.

A graduate of USC in industrial management, he went on to work in the electronics industry, beginning with the Deutsch Company in Los Angeles. A very successful businessman, he later started his own company, Systems Data Network Corporation, a computer service company. He then began forming and purchasing several different companies. Due to his success in business, he sat on numerous corporate and charitable boards, and eventually formed Babka Ltd., a company which assisted other businesses in financial and managerial issues.

Personal Best: DT – 63.93 (1968).