Al Cantello

Albert " Al " Cantello ( born June 9, 1931 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is an American former javelin thrower, who made headlines in the late 1950s.

By profession he was a Navy lieutenant. First appearance, he joined in 1955 with a fourth place finish at the U.S. Championships. In 1958 he was runner-up in 1959 and 1960 respectively champion.

His peculiar, ridiculed by many throwing technique was that he took in the manner of a sprinter start and after throwing the spear took a flying leap with subsequent belly landing. In this way, he could not only prevent trespassing, but also realize his start-up speed in optimal throw. When he threw 86.04 meters in Compton on June 5, 1959, surpassing the three -year-old world record of the Norwegian Egil Danielsen by 33 cm, he was considered a favorite for the Olympic Summer Games in Rome in 1960. There, however, he failed miserably: With 74.40 meters he only came in 10th place, the medals went to

Thus Alfred Cantello shared the fate of Poland Janusz sídlo. Both he and the Pole had achieved in qualifying excellent lengths to literally break in the subsequent final round. Had the qualification received with widths in the standings, the medal distribution would have looked completely different:

After this disappointment Cantello disappeared into oblivion. At a height of 1.71 m his competition weight was 75 kg.