Background
Hooper was born in Fort Worth, Texas, where in 1949 he graduated from North Side High School.
Hooper was born in Fort Worth, Texas, where in 1949 he graduated from North Side High School.
By the time he graduated from college, he had a wife and two children.
He competed for the United States in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in the shot put. In the Olympic trials, Hooper had beaten O"Brien with an almost mirror image of the Olympics, 17.41m listed as (57" 1 3/8") while O"Brien shot putted 17.38 (57" 1/2"). lieutenant was O"Brien"s last defeat before an unprecedented 116 straight victories over the next 3 years, 364 days.
Both athletes left Jim Fuchs, the World Record holder at the time, relegated to third place with a 17.36m.
That ended Fuchs" string of 88 consecutive victories that dated back to 1949.
He went on to attend Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association shot put title in 1951. Hooper"s last throw was just two centimeters away from winning the gold medal: Parry O’Brien"s shot put measured 17.41 (57" 1 1/2"), while Hooper"s measured 17.39m (57" 3/4") Hooper won the silver medal.
