Ralph Rose

Ralph Rose was an American field athlete who dominated the shot put in the early twentieth century. Born in Healdsburg, California, in 1884, he attended the University of Michigan and later studied law in Chicago. At the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis he won three medals, taking the shot put title with a world record throw, silver in the discus and bronze in the hammer throw. He won the shot put again at the 1908 Games and, in 1912, took silver in the shot put and gold in the two-handed shot put. In 1909 he became the first man to break the fifty-foot barrier, and he won four AAU shot put titles, two discus titles and the first AAU javelin title. He carried the American flag at the 1908 Opening Ceremony and refused to dip it to the British king, which began a tradition that survives. He died of typhoid fever in 1913.