{{Short description|American hamer thrower (born 1952)}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Boris Djerassi | country = United States | residence = | other_names = | image = | native_name = בוריס דריאסי | native_name_lang = he | birth_name = Boris Djerassi | nickname = Dov | birth_date = February 3, 1952 | birth_place = Haifa, Israel | known = | occupation = Strongman; Chiropractor | spouse = | partner = | children = | relations = | website = | footnotes = | employer = | sport = Athletics (Hammer thrower) | alma_mater = New York University<br>Northeastern University | height = | weight = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's Hammer}} {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{CompetitionRecordQualifier| 1980 Moscow | Hammer<br>''USA withdrew from Olympics so did not compete''}} {{CompetitionRecordCompetition|NCAA}} {{CompetitionRecord|1st| 1975 | }} {{CompetitionRecordCompetition|Penn Relays}} {{CompetitionRecord|1st| 1975 | }} {{CompetitionRecordCompetition|IC4A Championships}} {{CompetitionRecord|1st| 1975 | }} {{CompetitionRecordCompetition|AAU Championships}} {{CompetitionRecord|1st| 1975 | }} {{CompetitionRecord|5th| 1976 | }} {{CompetitionRecord|3rd| 1977 | }} {{CompetitionRecord|1st| 1978 | }} {{CompetitionRecord|2nd| 1979 | }} {{CompetitionRecordSport | Strongman}} {{CompetitionRecordCountry | {{ISR}} }} {{CompetitionRecordCompetition|World's Strongest Man}} {{CompetitionRecord|6th| 1978 World's Strongest Man | }} }}
'''Boris (Dov) Djerassi''' ({{Langx|he|בוריס (דוב) דריאסי}}; born February 3, 1952)<ref>[http://www.all-athletics.com/en-us/node/287169 Boris DJERASSI]. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-29.</ref> is a former athlete and strongman, based in the United States but originally from Haifa, Israel. Between 1973 and 1981 Djerassi was ranked in the United States' top-ten hammer throwers, being number one in three different years. He was selected for the Olympic team in 1980, but the United States boycotted the Moscow Games and Djerassi was unable to compete in the Olympics. He also competed at the World's Strongest Man finals.
==Early life== Boris Djerassi was born in Haifa, Israel, and is Jewish.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/15/sports/us-takes-3-golds-soccer-team-in-final.html|title=U.S. Takes 3 Golds; Soccer Team in Final|newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 15, 1981}}</ref>
==Sporting career== Djerassi came to the US in the early 1970s enrolling at New York University.<ref name="Chiro">{{Cite web|url=http://www.allamericanchiro.net/doctor/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125020534/http://www.allamericanchiro.net/doctor/|title=Profile at the All-American Chiropractic Center official site|archivedate=January 25, 2012}}</ref> However, when NYU dropped their athletics program in his sophomore year he moved on to Northeastern University in 1973.<ref name="Chiro"/> Known as "Dov" (Hebrew for Bear) he won All America honors in 1975, indoors in the weight and outdoors in the hammer. In the hammer he began dominating the New England, Eastern, and eventually the national collegiate hammer event. In 1975 he defeated defending champion Pete Farmer for the NCAA crown in Provo, Utah in 1975 by just three inches. This proved to be the first of the fabled quadruple sweep, when he went on in 1975 to win the Penn Relays, the IC4A Championships, and the AAU Championships. He was the first athlete to perform this feat in one year.<ref name="Chiro"/>
Djerassi competed for the United States in the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel, as well as in the 1981 Maccabiah Games.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/19/archives/us-swimmers-again-dominate-tel-aviv-games.html|title=U.S. Swimmers Again Dominate Tel Aviv Games|newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 19, 1977}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> He won a gold medal in the hammer throw in each Maccabiah.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
In 1980, he earned one of three berths in the hammer for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, but was unable to compete when the USA boycotted the games. Djerassi did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Caroccioli|first1=Tom|last2=Caroccioli|first2=Jerry|title=Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games|year=2008 |publisher=New Chapter Press|location=Highland Park, IL|isbn=978-0942257403|pages=243–253}}</ref> In total, he was three time national champion and four time All-American.<ref name="Chiro"/>
In 1989 Northeastern University later inducted Boris into their Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sport of track and field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nuhuskies.com/hof.aspx?hof=94&path=&kiosk=|title=Boris D. Djerassi (1989) – Varsity Club Hall of Fame|website=Northeastern University Athletics}}</ref> In 1978 Djerassi also earned an invite to the 1978 World's Strongest Man contest, only the second time it had been held. In this contest he was said to be representing Israel, despite his American citizenship.
==Later career== Djerassi went on to become a Track & Field coach<ref name="Chiro"/> and trained body building and track & field national champions.<ref name="Chiro"/> In 1995 he graduated from the Life Chiropractic College of Atlanta, Georgia<ref name="Chiro"/> and became a chiropractor.
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Footer US NC Hammer Men}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Djerassi, Boris}} Category:1952 births Category:American strength athletes Category:Israeli strength athletes Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Jewish competitors in the sport of athletics Category:Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Category:Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Category:Competitors at the 1977 Maccabiah Games Category:Competitors at the 1981 Maccabiah Games Category:Sportspeople from Haifa Category:American men hammer throwers Category:Living people Category:Men weight throwers Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Category:NYU Violets men's track and field athletes Category:Northeastern Huskies men's track and field athletes Category:Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the United States Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Life University alumni Category:Competitors at the 1973 Summer Universiade