Four-time Olympic gold medalist, former world record holder and National Track & Field Hall of Famer Al Oerter died Monday of heart failure in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. He was 71.

The greatest athlete ever to compete in the discus, Oerter participated in four Olympics, always as the underdog, and always came out the winner. With each win he set an Olympic record in the event.

A native of Astoria, N.Y., Oerter won his first gold medal in 1956 while he was a student at the University of Kansas, upsetting fellow National Track & Field Hall of Famer Fortune Gordien in throwing an Olympic record 56.37 meters/184 feet 11 inches.

Four years later, at the Olympic Trials, he suffered his first defeat in more than two years when he lost to Rink Babka. At the Rome Olympics, he topped Babka with an Olympic-record throw of 59.19m/194-2.

At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Oerter was an underdog to Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia, who had won 45 straight competitions. Suffering from a disc injury and torn cartilage in his lower ribs, Oerter was given little chance. On his fifth throw, after removing his neck harness, Oerter became the first thrower to surpass 200 feet in winning his third gold medal.

He won his fourth gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, throwing a record 64.77m/212-6 and upsetting Danek and world record-holder (and fellow National Track & Field Hall of Famer) Jay Silvester.

At Kansas, where he was coached by Hall of Famer Bill Easton, Oerter won two national collegiate titles. He also won six National AAU titles, improved the world discus record four times and was the 1959 Pan-American Games champion. After retiring in 1968, he returned eight years later to challenge for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic teams. Incredibly, in 1980, he achieved his best-ever throw of 69.44m/227-10.50, at age 43.

Oerter was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.

Following his athletic career Oerter worked in the computer industry and was a public speaker. He began a program entitled Art of the Olympians, which gave him and other Olympians the opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities.

"Al Oerter is one of the greatest track and field athletes, and one of the greatest Olympic athletes, of all time," said USATF CEO Craig A. Masback. "What made him even more special was his excellence off the track, in pursuits ranging from community outreach to art. The track world has lost a legend, a Hall of Famer, and a true gentleman. USATF extends our deepest sympathy to Al's family."

Services are pending.