Rink Babka

Rink Babka

Personal information
Birth name	Richard Aldrich Babka
Nickname(s)	Rink
Nationality	American
Born	September 23, 1936 (1936-09-23) Cheyenne, WY
Height	6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m)
Weight	267 pounds (121 kg)
Website	www.rinkbabka.com
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Discus throw
College/university team	Menlo College USC
Retired	1969
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	63.93 metres (209 ft 9 in)
Medal record Competitor for United States Men's athletics Olympic Games Silver 1960 Rome Discus throw Pan American Games Silver 1967 Winnipeg Discus throw

Richard "Rink" Aldrich Babka (born September 23, 1936) is a retired American discus thrower. A former world record holder, Babka also won a silver medal in the discus event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Rink Babka was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming to Czech immigrant parents from the region of Bohemia. His family moved from Wyoming to Palo Alto, California when he was twelve years old. He starred in football, basketball, baseball in addition to track and field at Palo Alto High School before graduating in 1954. He subsequently attended nearby Menlo College on an athletic scholarship, and his achievements there earned him a multi-sport athletic scholarship offer from the University of Southern California (USC). Knee injuries eventually obliged him to withdraw from USC's football and basketball teams, but as a discus thrower he continued to climb toward the top of the world rankings. He graduated with a B.S. degree from USC's School of Business, and did masters studies there at what is now the Marshall School of Business.

Babka continued to compete as a discus thrower until 1969, when he retired to devote himself to various business pursuits. He currently resides in California.

References

• Personal website

Records
Preceded by Edmund Piątkowski	Men's Discus World Record Holder August 12, 1960 – August 11, 1961	Succeeded by Jay Silvester