Track and Field Career
Her events of choice were the shot put and discus throwing. Considered one of the greatest American women throwers of all times, Earlene Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and discus in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, setting American records in both events.
Brown was an eight-time (1956–1962 and 1964) and three-time (1958, 1959 and 1961) national champion in the shot put and discus, respectively. In 1958, she received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier in the shot put. In 1959, she won gold medals in both the shot put and discus events at the Pan American Games.
Undoubtedly, the highlight of Brown's track and field career came in 1960, when she won a bronze medal for her shot put performance (16.42 m) at the Summer Olympics in Rome. After a subpar performance in the 1964 Summer Olympics, Brown retired from track and field competition.
She can be seen as a contestant on the 16th April 1959 edition of You Bet Your Life.
On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) during the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held in Jacksonville, Florida.
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