FORT MYERS, Florida — Al Oerter, the discuss great who won gold medals in four straight Olympics to become one of athletics' biggest stars in the 1950s and '60s, died yesterday of heart failure. He was 71.

Oerter died at a hospital near his Fort Myers Beach home, wife Cathy Oerter said. He dealt with high blood pressure since he was young and struggled with heart problems, she said.

"He was a gentle giant," she said. "He was bigger than life."

Oerter won gold medals in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. Oerter and Carl Lewis are the only athletics stars to capture the same event in four consecutive Olympics. Oerter, however, is the only one to set an Olympic record in each of his victories.

"His legacy is one of an athlete who embodied all of the positive attributes associated with being an Olympian," said Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the US Olympic Committee. "He performed on the field of play with distinction and transferred that excellence to the role of advocate for the Olympic movement and its ideals."

Born in New York City, Oerter was 6ft 4in tall and once competed at nearly 300 pounds. He dispensed with coaching and conventional training methods, moulding himself into a fierce competitor who performed his best when the stakes were highest.

"I can remember those games truly as if they were a week ago," Oerter told The Associated Press last year.