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Henry Francis Dreyer (February 2, 1911 – May 27, 1986) was an American athlete. He competed in the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics as a hammer thrower; his other strong event was the non-Olympic weight throw, in which he broke the world record several times. Between the two events and counting both outdoors and indoors, he won twenty United States championships.[1]
Early career and 1936 Olympics
Dreyer won his first national title in 1934, winning the 35 lb weight throw at that year's AAU indoor championships with a throw of 53 ft 8 in (16.35 m).[1][2] Representing the Rhode Island State College, he also won the 1934 indoor IC4A weight throw title, throwing 55 ft 2+1⁄4 in (16.82 m),[3] a world record.[4] At that summer's NCAA championships he won the hammer throw, throwing 169 ft 8+3⁄8 in (51.73 m) and defeating 1932 Olympic bronze medalist Pete Zaremba;[5][6] only Fred Tootell, the 1924 Olympic champion and Dreyer's own coach,[7] had ever thrown further at the NCAA meet.[6]
In 1935 Dreyer broke his own world record in the 35-pound indoor weight throw with 57 ft 9 in (17.60 m)[8][9] and repeated as national champion in the event.[2] He also won his first national outdoor title, winning the hammer throw with 168 ft 8+1⁄2 in (51.42 m).[1][10] The previous week he had thrown 181 ft 5+3⁄16 in (55.30 m) at the New England championships in Newport,[7] the best throw in the world that year.[11]
On 29 February 1936 he threw the indoor weight 58 ft 4+1⁄2 in (17.79 m), regaining the world record from Irving Folwartshny, who had thrown 58 ft 1+1⁄2 in (17.71 m) at the national championships the previous week.[2][12][13] He only placed third in the hammer at that year's national championships,[10] losing to two other Rhode Island State alumni, William Rowe and Folwartshny.[14] However, at the Olympic Trials, which were held separately the following week, he threw 171 ft 11+1⁄2 in (52.41 m) and won by two inches over Rowe, qualifying for the Olympics in Berlin.[14] He placed ninth at the Olympics, throwing 165 ft 5 in (50.42 m).[1] ÷—–143+305*70
Championship streak and 1948 Olympics
Dreyer won no national titles in 1937 or 1938, finishing second to Folwartshny in the indoor weight throw in both years.[15][16] He regained the indoor weight throw title in 1939;[2] in 1940 he finished second to Niles Perkins,[17] but won the outdoor 56-pound weight throw for the first time, throwing 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m).[18] He won seven consecutive national titles in the indoor weight throw from 1941 to 1947,[2] a streak that remained unparalleled until Lance Deal won eight times in a row starting in 1989.[2][19] Dreyer also won the outdoor weight throw in 1945[18] and the hammer throw in 1943, 1944 and 1945.[10]
Dreyer's indoor weight throw streak ended in the Olympic year of 1948, when he placed third as Bob Bennett won and Sam Felton took second.[20] However, he regained the outdoor title; his throw of 41 ft 2+5⁄8 in (12.56 m) exceeded Matt McGrath's old world record of 40 ft 5+3⁄8 in (12.32 m) from 1911,[21] but the implement used was found to have been too light.[18] He also qualified for his second Olympics in the hammer throw, placing third at the national championships (again behind Bennett and Felton)[10] and second at the final Olympic Trials in Evanston, where he threw 173 ft 4+3⁄4 in (52.85 m) and defeated Felton.[22] At the Olympics in London Dreyer finished ninth, just as he had twelve years before; this time his best throw was 168 ft 6+3⁄8 in (51.37 m), three feet better than in Berlin.[1]
Later career
In 1949 Dreyer successfully defended his outdoor weight throw title.[18] He also set his personal hammer best of 183 ft 3 in (55.87 m)[11] and placed second to Felton at the national championships with 175 ft 6+1⁄2 in (53.50 m).[10] Track & Field News ranked him eighth among the world's hammer throwers that year, the only time he made the top ten as the rankings were first compiled in 1947.[23]
Dreyer reached career-best form with the 56-pound outdoor weight in 1951; at the Metropolitan championships in June he threw 41 ft 7+1⁄2 in (12.68 m), again breaking the world record and now legitimately,[24][25] although as the IAAF didn't recognize official weight throw world records it was only ratified as an American record.[26] He also won the national championship, throwing 41 ft 6+3⁄4 in (12.66 m), a meeting record.[18][26] In the hammer throw he placed second to Felton, throwing 182 ft 8+1⁄4 in (55.68 m), his best mark ever at the national championships.[10] He won a final national title with the 56-pound weight in 1952, throwing 40 ft 3+1⁄8 in (12.27 m).[18] His attempt to qualify for a third Olympic Games was not successful as, although he threw 173 ft 3+1⁄2 in (52.82 m) at the 1952 Olympic Trials, it was only good enough for sixth place.[27]
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