Reese Hoffa is one of those Olympic athletes who need no introductions. Born on October 8th, 1977 in Evans, Georgia, he has come a long way from an orphan to an Olympian. Continue reading to find all about this renowned shot putter who is always going to be addressed as a legend in the Olympian history for the several titles he has secured over time.
Early Childhood
Reese's mother was still a teenager at 15 after giving him birth. Like any kid, he had an elder brother and a grandma who loved to make banana puddings for him. One day when Reese Hoffa was four, his brother showed him how to light a match. At first, he flamed a string dangling from one of the curtains in his room. His brother put it out at once. He did the same thing again and with his brother nowhere close to put an end to it, it was only a short while before he saw the blazing fire destroying a good part of his house in front of his eyes.
He remembered his mother hugging him and his brother. He also remembered his mother walking away and his efforts to go after her, pleading for her to stay, waiting for her to come back, something she never did. Reese and his brother were sent to an orphanage where he was soon adopted by a family living in Kentucky.
Slowly, the memories of his family faded and he started settling in. However, the fire was something he could not forget as he believed it was the fire that made him lose his family. His adoptive parents remembered him as a child who was always throwing something in the yard. He broke countless windows with his whiffle balls, imagining that he is hitting a strike zone with a baseball. Everyone knew he was mischievous. What no one knew was that he was actually a star in the making.
Career Highlights
With his jumbo-sized shot putter's body, a little short of 6 feet and a weight of 325 pounds, Reese Hoffa is nothing but a pillar of consistency as he has worked hard to land among the first five in the USA Outdoor Championships for eight years consecutively. His road to achievements started off in 1997 when he stood 5th at the National Scholastics. Since then, there is no stopping him.
At the 2003 World Outdoor Championships, to his great disappointment he did not own even one of the ten throws in the world in either indoor or outdoor competition. In 2006, he was the World Indoor gold medalist and can pride himself on being a silver medalist for World Indoor two times. He made an impressive come back in 2007 when he crossed the 70-foot mark ten times, easily breaking C. J. Hunter's shot putting record in 2003, earning him the title of the World Outdoor Gold Medalist.
In 2008, he won the title for the Olympics Trial Champion with a throw of 22.10 meters. In 2009, with his heart set to achieve his goals, critics claimed that five out of the six throws he took could have gotten him a gold medal in Olympics.
With the countdown going for the London 2012 Olympic Games this year, it is the only thing going on the 34-year old's mind as he knows it is his last big shot. He has already appeared for the Olympics twice but never medaled and while he accepts the value that his other titles have, being an Olympic medalist has its own charm.
In London, he won't be paying any attention to the huge crowd cheering him up or the big stage. When he will step into the ring, his only aim will be to make his name history by winning the prestigious Olympic accolade.
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