Fred Tootell

Fred Tootell (actually Frederic Delmond Tootell, born September 9, 1902 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, † September 29, 1964 in Kingston, Rhode Iceland ), was an American hammer thrower and Olympic champion.

Tootell began with the hammer throw in 1919 as a student of Bowdoin College, where he was noticed as an outstanding athlete, which was also due to the long way to school, he had taken on foot to his native farm. 1923 and 1924 he won the U.S. Championships, the same year he qualified despite leg injury for the Olympic Games in Paris. There, he became the first US-born athlete the gold medal with a distance of 53.295 meters. He was considered a good person because he had to compensate for the physical disadvantage compared to its larger competitors.

A year after his Olympic victory Tootell was athletics and cross country coach at Rhode Iceland State College (now the University of Rhode Iceland ). Due to his coaching career, he was able to participate as an athlete at any other Olympics, because he was no longer regarded as an amateur. In 1936 he took part in the Olympic Games in Berlin as athletics trainer. From 1953 to 1962 he was director of athletics at the university, at the same time he taught as a professor of physical education.

Tootell died in 1964 on the day of his retirement, leaving behind five children.