SU alum Anthony Washington won the 1999 world discus championship.
Former Orange Standouts to be Inducted into Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame
6/27/2006 9:45:28 AM | Track and Field
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Two former Syracuse track & field standouts headline this year's class of inductees into the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame. Anthony Washington '90, the 1999 world champion in the discus, and 1936 Olympic silver medalist Ed O'Brien '37 will join Doriane Lambelet Coleman and Katy Schilly Laetsch as members of the 2006 class.
Washington, who attended Syracuse from 1986-90, took the BIG EAST Conference by storm as a freshman, winning the 1986 BIG EAST outdoor discus championship and the 1986 BIG EAST indoor shot put title. He graduated SU as the school's record holder in the discus (210-7”) and the hammer throw (163-8.50”). He earned All-America honors in each of the next three seasons, winning the BIG EAST crown in both the hammer throw and discus all three years. He also placed second in the discus at the 1989 NCAA Championship and fourth in the discus at the 1990 NCAA Championship.
Washington's career continued to soar after he left Syracuse. He won the 1991 USA Championship in the discus, along with the 1991 Pan-Am Games discus crown, improving his personal best in the event to 213-5”.In 1992, Washington won the U.S. Olympic Trials, and was ranked as high as fourth in the world, improving his best throw in the discus by nine feet (222-8”).
After a brief retirement in 1994, Washington returned to the field, won the Olympic trials, and began preparing for his second straight Olympics, the '96 games in Atlanta. He fell short of a bronze medal by three feet in Atlanta.
Three years later Washington was crowned the 1999 World Champion, becoming the first American since 1976 to win the world discus championship. He also qualified for his third straight Olympics in 2000.
O'Brien, who specialized in the 440-yard and 220-yard dashes in his career, holds the SU school records in those events with times of 20.8 seconds in the 220-yard dash and 47.3 seconds in the 440-yard dash. Both marks were set in 1936. He was a conference champion three times in different events and served as the captain of the 1936 Orange track & field squad.
Following his career at Syracuse, O'Brien took his career to the next level, making a name for himself on the international stage. O'Brien was a part of the 1936 U.S. 4x400-meter relay team that won the silver in the Berlin Olympics. A three-time U.S. champion, O'Brien set three indoor world records in his career and was twice ranked in the Top 10 in the world in the 400-meter dash.
He was selected as a Syracuse LetterWinner of Distinction honoree in 1976.
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