Name Jalal Keshmiri | Height 1.92 m | |
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Jalal Ali "Joe" Kashmiri (25 March 1939 – 6 February 1999) was an Iranian shot putter and discus thrower. Between 1966 and 1974 he won two gold, three silver and one bronze medal in these events at the Asian Games. He competed in the discus at the 1968 Summer Olympics and placed 20th.
Biography
Keshmiri started as an association football goalkeeper. During one game, a practicing athlete threw a discus that almost hit Keshmiri's head. Angry Keshmiri threw it back and was noticed by the athletics coach. By the age of 19 he switched from football to athletics. In the 1970s he studied physical education in Nevada, United States, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1974. By that time Iranian officials considered him an American citizen and excluded him from the 1972 Olympic team.
After moving to the United States, he went by the name Joe Keshmeri. Competing in the masters division, he briefly held the masters M60 world record in the shot put. He has held the M60 American record in the discus throw since 1998. He died from a heart-related illness in Reno, Nevada, aged 59.
Keshmiri married in Iran in 1965 and had two sons: Kamal-Jamal and Kamy; Kamy became an American discus thrower.