Jack Torrance (athlete)

John Torrance (June 20, 1912 – November 10, 1969)[1] 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.

Jack Torrance
Torrance in 1933
No. 34
Position:Tackle
Personal information
Born:(1912-06-20)June 20, 1912
Oak Grove, Louisiana
Died:November 10, 1969(1969-11-10) (aged 57)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
High school:Oak Grove (LA)
College:LSU
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

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.[2] 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.[3] In addition, he placed third in the discus.[4] LSU won the NCAA team title that year, narrowly beating favored University of Southern California.[5][6] Torrance also won the national championship in the shot that year, throwing 15.68 m (51 ft ​4 7⁄8 in) to beat Stanford's Gordon Dunn and John Lyman.[7] 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.[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 in Lafayette 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 ft ​3⁄4 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 ft ​1 1⁄2 in) at the Drake 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 ft ​6 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 in Milwaukee, Lyman improved to 16.70 m (54 ft ​9 1⁄2 in), better than Torrance's NCAA mark; however, Torrance won with 16.89 m (55 ft ​5 1⁄4 in), breaking his own world record.[7]

Torrance then went on a European tour. He set his final world record at Bislett in Oslo 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 ft ​10 5⁄8 in) with his right hand and 11.95 m (39 ft ​2 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 ft ​11 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 ft ​5 1⁄2 in), ahead of Germany's Hans Woellke and Lyman.[8] With the Olympic Games in Berlin 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 the United States Olympic Trials.[20] In Berlin, he only managed 15.38 m (50 feet ​5 1⁄2 in), placing him fifth.[1]

After the Olympics, Torrance turned his attention to other sports. He debuted as a boxer 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 to fix his matches.[29] Torrance himself was found not to have played a part and continued his boxing career.[29] On April 28, 1937 he was knocked out in the second round by Abe Simon[30][31] and his boxing career subsequently went on a downward spiral.[32]

He subsequently worked briefly as a policeman, a car salesman and as custodian of the old Louisiana State House.[33][34] In 1939 he signed with Chicago Bears of the National Football League.[35] He played tackle in a total of fifteen games in 1939 and 1940.[36]

Torrance's shot put world record outlasted his sports career, remaining in the books until Charlie Fonville threw 17.68 m (58 ft ​1⁄4 in) on April 17, 1948.[10][37] Torrance was inducted in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.[38] He died in November 1969 of a heart attack.[38]

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References
  1. "Jack Torrance Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  2. Graham, Dillon (April 25, 1933). "Jack Torrance, Louisiana State Star, Leads Attack on Southern College Track and Field Marks". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  3. Hill, E. Garry. "A History of the NCAA Championships: Shot Put" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  4. Hill, E. Garry. "A History of the NCAA Championships: Discus Throw" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  5. "Four World Marks Set in U.S. Meet". The Montreal Gazette. June 19, 1933. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  6. "Favor Trojans to Take Meet". Prescott Evening Courier. June 15, 1933. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  7. Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian; Track & Field News. "A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2011". Track & Field News. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  8. "Track and Field Statistics". trackfield.brinkster.net. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  9. Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  10. Butler, Mark; IAAF Media & Public Relations Department, IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011, International Association of Athletics Federations
  11. "Mile-Runners and Shot-Putters Dominate 1934 Track And Field; Cunningham, Torrance Set New Marks". The Pittsburgh Press. December 19, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  12. "Torrance Sets Shotput Record". The Milwaukee Journal. March 24, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  13. "Lyman Breaks Shot Record". The Milwaukee Journal. April 15, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  14. "Torrance Cracks Shot Record; Lyman Out to Regain Laurels". Lodi News-Sentinel. April 28, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  15. "Lyman Sets 'Shot' Mark". The Milwaukee Journal. April 22, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  16. "Torrance Gets Shotput Record". Spokane Daily Chronicle. June 23, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  17. Bell, Brian. "Jack Torrance, Tiger Star, Fails to Qualify in Discus Throw". St. Petersburg Times.
  18. "Torrance Cracks Shot Put Record". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 6, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  19. "Yankee Track Aces Crack Records". The Spartanburg Herald. August 7, 1934. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  20. Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field". Track & Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  21. "Owens, Peacock, Torrance, Medica and Cunningham Big Olympic Hopes". Eugene Register-Guard. January 20, 1936. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  22. Mickelson, Paul (July 14, 1936). "Dean Cromwell Takes Team of 10 Men Across the Atlantic on Trip". The Spartanburg Herald. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  23. Gould, Alan (July 29, 1936). "Olympiad Track Tutors Disagree Over Negro Star". The Evening Independent. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  24. "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  25. "Big Jack Torrance to Make His Debut in Boxing Tonight". The Spartanburg Herald. December 7, 1936. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  26. "Jack Torrance Scores Kayo In Debut Match". The Tuscaloosa News. December 8, 1936. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  27. "Jack Torrance to Box In New Orleans Tonight". The Miami News. January 11, 1937. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  28. "Jack Torrance Scores Fourth Straight Kayo". The Milwaukee Journal. February 2, 1937. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  29. "Fines Assessed in Fight Run-Out". The Tuscaloosa News. February 14, 1937. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  30. "Jack Torrance Loses In Bout to Simon". Lodi News-Sentinel. April 29, 1937. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  31. "Big Jack Torrance Takes a Beating in Fight Ring". Lawrence Journal-World. April 29, 1937. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  32. Hardwick, Leon (August 14, 1937). "Bomber Nears Peak; Footwork, Timing OK". The Afro-American. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  33. "Paul Richards Boast Active Eleven Years". The Palm Beach Post. March 28, 1938.
  34. "Jack Torrance Is Purge Victim". The Evening Independent. July 31, 1939. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  35. "Jack Torrance Signs With Chicago Bears". The Milwaukee Sentinel. August 15, 1939. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  36. "Jack Torrance NFL Football Statistics". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  37. Mayhew, John F. (May 7, 1948). "Answer Question Why Charley Fonville Is Greatest Shot Putter in History". Ludington Daily News. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  38. "Jack Torrance". Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
Records
Preceded by
František Douda		 Men's Shot Put World Record Holder (unofficial)
March 24, 1934 – April 21, 1934		 Succeeded by
John Lyman
Preceded by
John Lyman		 Men's Shot Put World Record Holder
April 27, 1934 – April 17, 1948		 Succeeded by
Charlie Fonville
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