Ernst Soudek

Ernst Soudek was Austrian shot-put champion in 1964 and discus champion in 1964 and 1967. He was selected for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where, he was eliminated in the qualification of the discus throw. In 1985, he won the World Championships in the senior Over-45 class. The previous year he had won the Senior European Championships.

In 1960, Soudek went to America, taking odd jobs he ended up becoming a criminal. Following an athletics meeting at Michigan, coach Don Canham gave him a chance to train with him. Later Soudek became an English major and teaching fellow (virtually a university assistant), received his doctorate of philosophy in English and comparative literature in 1969. Soudek taught for 16 years at Rice University in Houston, Texas, which is considered the “Harvard of the South”, and at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.

After 25 years, Soudek returned to Austria and helped to build up the TH Technikum Wien (Vienna), a technical high school.

Personal Best: DT – 62.50 (1972).