Boris Djerassi

Last updated
Boris Djerassi
Personal information
Birth nameBoris Djerassi
NicknameDov
BornFebruary 3, 1952
Haifa, Israel
Alma mater New York University
Northeastern University
Occupation(s) Strongman; Chiropractor
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportAthletics (Hammer thrower)
Medal record
Men's Hammer
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Qualified 1980 Moscow Hammer
USA withdrew from Olympics so did not compete
NCAA
1st1975
Penn Relays
1st1975
IC4A Championships
1st1975
AAU Championships
1st1975
5th1976
3rd1977
1st1978
2nd1979
Strongman
Representing Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
World's Strongest Man
6th 1978 World's Strongest Man

Boris (Dov) Djerassi (born February 3, 1952) [1] is a former athlete and strongman, based in the United States but originally from Haifa, Israel. Between 1973 and 1981 Djerassi was ranked in the United States' top-ten hammer throwers, being number one in three different years. He was selected for the Olympic team in 1980, but the United States boycotted the Moscow Games and Djerassi was unable to compete in the Olympics. He also competed at the World's Strongest Man finals.

Contents

Early life

Boris Djerassi was born in Haifa, Israel, and is Jewish. [2]

Sporting career

Djerassi came to the US in the early 1970s enrolling at New York University. [3] However, when NYU dropped their athletics program in his sophomore year he moved on to Northeastern University in 1973. [3] Known as "Dov" (Hebrew for Bear) he won All America honors in 1975, indoors in the weight and outdoors in the hammer. In the hammer he began dominating the New England, Eastern, and eventually the national collegiate hammer event. In 1975 he defeated defending champion Pete Farmer for the NCAA crown in Provo, Utah in 1975 by just three inches. This proved to be the first of the fabled quadruple sweep, when he went on in 1975 to win the Penn Relays, the IC4A Championships, and the AAU Championships. He was the first athlete to perform this feat in one year. [3]

Djerassi competed for the United States in the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel, as well as in the 1981 Maccabiah Games. [4] [2] He won a gold medal in the hammer throw in each Maccabiah. [4] [2]

In 1980, he earned one of three berths in the hammer for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, but was unable to compete when the USA boycotted the games. Djerassi did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. [5] In total, he was three time national champion and four time All-American. [3]

In 1989 Northeastern University later inducted Boris into their Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sport of track and field. [6] In 1978 Djerassi also earned an invite to the 1978 World's Strongest Man contest, only the second time it had been held. In this contest he was said to be representing Israel, despite his American citizenship.

Later career

Djerassi went on to become a Track & Field coach [3] and trained body building and track & field national champions. [3] In 1995 he graduated from the Life Chiropractic College of Atlanta, Georgia [3] and became a chiropractor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Banks</span> American triple jumper

William Augustus Banks III is an American athlete. Born at Travis Air Force Base, California, he grew up in San Diego County and went to Oceanside High School. Banks is an Eagle Scout.

Craig Steven Virgin is an American distance runner. He was born in Belleville, Illinois, and grew up near Lebanon, Illinois. While in high school, Virgin won 5 state championships as well as setting the national outdoor high school 2-mile record of 8:40.9. Additionally, Virgin held the Illinois Boys Cross Country all-time state championship record for 47 years, running a 13:50.6 in 1972, a record that stood until November 9, 2019, when Josh Methner of John Hersey High School ran a 13:49.86. Virgin was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1973.

Michael Scott Tully is an American pole vaulter. He represented the United States twice in the Olympics, earning a silver in 1984, and held the American pole vault record from 1984 to 1985.

Louise Dorothy Ritter is an American former track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1988 Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Powell (discus thrower)</span> American athlete (1947–2022)

John Gates Powell was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the discus throw. He set a world record at 69.08 meters in 1975, and his personal best of 71.26 meters ties him for ninth place in the all-time performers list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Brown (sprinter)</span> American sprinter

Alice Regina Brown is a retired American sprinter. Competing at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics she won two relay gold medals and an individual silver medal. She attended John Muir High School and California State University, Northridge.

Nagui Asaad Youssef ناجى أسعد,, is a retired Egyptian athlete who represented Egypt in international athletics events in the 1970s and early 1980s in shot put and discus throw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 Maccabiah Games</span>

At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge and for the first time badminton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Maccabiah Games</span> 11th Edition of Maccabiah Games

The 11th Maccabiah Games brought 3,450 athletes to Israel from 35 nations. The Opening Ceremony was held on July 7, 1981, before a crowd of 53,000 and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Ramat Gan Stadium, with 3,500 Jewish athletes parading past him. Representative Jack Kemp and a supporter of Israel, marched with the United States team. Israel won the most medals (199), with 65 gold. The United States won 188 medals, 85 gold. South Africa, Britain, and Canada had the next-most total medals.

Duncan Fuller Atwood is a former American athlete who twice won a gold medal in the javelin throw at the Pan American Games: in 1979 and 1987. Atwood set his personal best on August 29, 1987, in Rome, Italy, during the qualification round at the World Championships.

Pamela Ann Spencer-Marquez is a retired high jumper from the United States, who set her personal best on 1981-08-28, jumping 1.97 metres at a meet in Brussels, Belgium. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, finishing in eleventh place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Feuerbach</span> American track and field athlete

Allan "Al" Dean Feuerbach is a former American track and field athlete. He competed in the shot put at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and finished in fifth and fourth place, respectively. He missed the 1980 Games due to the boycott by the United States. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the athletes.

Bill McChesney, Jr. was an American long-distance runner from Eugene, Oregon. He is Oregon's former record holder in the 5,000 meters.

Barbara Weinstein is an American diver from Cincinnati, United States.

Barton Williams is an American former hurdler. He attended California Polytechnic State University from 1975 to 1979. Williams is one of Cal Poly's all-time greatest track and field athletes.

Willie James Smith III was an American athlete who was the national champion 400 metres runner in 1979-80, and a gold medal winner at the 1984 Olympics in the 4 × 400 m relay.

Charles Douglas Brown is a retired American track and field athlete, whose specialty was the Steeplechase.

Scott Neilson is a Canadian former track and field athlete who competed in the hammer throw. His personal best was 72.72 m, set in Seattle on 1 April 1978.

Bobby Coffman is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon. He set his personal record of 8274 points in Quebec City on August 12, 1979.

Rod Ewaliko is an American track and field athlete known for the Javelin throw. He was the 1983 National Champion and won the 1980 Olympic Trials to become a member of the team that did not participate in the Olympics due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead. Ewaliko would finish in second place in the National Championships five times. He threw in two other Olympic Trials, finishing sixth in 1976 and was unable to land a legal throw in the finals of 1984.

References

  1. Boris DJERASSI. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-29.
  2. 1 2 3 "U.S. Takes 3 Golds; Soccer Team in Final". The New York Times. July 15, 1981.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Profile at the All-American Chiropractic Center official site". Archived from the original on January 25, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "U.S. Swimmers Again Dominate Tel Aviv Games". The New York Times. July 19, 1977.
  5. Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN   978-0942257403.
  6. "Boris D. Djerassi (1989) – Varsity Club Hall of Fame". Northeastern University Athletics.