Clarence Houser

Lemuel Clarence ("Bud") Houser (September 25 1901 in Winigan, Missouri – October 1 1994 in Gardena, California) was an American field athlete.

As a student of Oxnard High School, Houser participated in the California State Track Meets between 1920-22. His six wins in shot put and discus, each time breaking a state record, made him the most successful meet participant ever [http://www.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/STATE_BK/statehis.htm] . During this time he developed a discus-throwing style of doing one and a half rapid turns in the circle before release that has been copied by many later athletes. He then enrolled at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/genrel/auto_pdf/uscolympians.pdf USC OLYMPIANS: 1904-2004] , USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 13, 2008.]

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Houser won the gold medal in the shot put, ahead of fellow Americans Glenn Hartanft and Ralph Hills and in the discus, ahead of the Finn Vilho Niittymaa and the American Thomas Lieb. This was the last time an athlete has won both the shot put and discus in the Olympics.

He won national championships in the discus in 1925, 1926, and 1928, and in the shot put in 1921 and 1925. On April 3, 1926 in Palo Alto, he set a world record with a discus throw of 48.20 m.

At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam he was flag bearer for the United States team. There he retained his title in discuss-throwing, again leading a Finn Antero Kivi and an American James Corson.

Houser became a dentist with a practice in Palm Springs, California.

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