Eugene Oberst

Eugene G. "Gene" Oberst (July 23, 1901, Owensboro, Kentucky - May 30, 1991, Cleveland, Ohio), was an American athlete. He played football at Notre Dame University in the 1920s under Knute Rockne, and competed in track and field as a javelin thrower. He won the bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Oberst was one of Notre Dame's "Seven Mules," the offensive linemen who blocked for Notre Dame's legendary Four Horsemen in the 1920s. As the possibly apochrypal story goes, he was walking by track practice and a javelin landed nearby. He picked it up and threw it far beyond the original thrower. Rockne, who coached track as well as football, saw the toss, and drafted him on the spot. After bettering the meet record by more than 8 feet at the 1924 Penn Games, Oberst got a berth on the U.S. Olympic team. His bronze medal at Paris was the first American Olympic medal in the javelin throw.

After college, Oberst became a coach and teacher. In 1926 and 1927 his football teams at Roman Catholic High School won the championships of the Philadelphia Catholic League. In 1931 and 1932 he coached football at Canisius College in Buffalo. He later moved to John Carroll College, now John Carroll University, in Cleveland. He served as Athletic Director there 1946-1951, and remained at the school until his retirement.