W70 thrower Cindy Wyatt, who won shot and discus at Michigan nationals, has a new title to celebrate. In October, she’s being inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. “All join a rich heritage of native Western New Yorkers, or those who starred in and around the Buffalo Niagara region during their playing days,” organizer said. Cindy’s fame came in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was fourth in the 1960 Olympic Trials shot put (12.90/42-4) and won a silver medal in the shot at the 1963 Pan-American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says a great profile in the Buffalo News. Congrats to Cindy!

Cindy, also known for power lifting, poses with other Buffalo HoF inductees.

Here’s the story for posterity:

Career overview: When her older brother was throwing the shot put and discus it was only natural that Cindy Wyatt would follow. She found success quickly, winning local AAU meets by age 13. She won the National Junior Division in shot put three times (1958, ’59, ’61) and discus twice (1958, ’61). By the time she was 16 she placed fourth in the shot put at the Olympic trials. But competing for Williamsville High School in the 1950s was out of the question.

“By the time I was a senior in high school, I was throwing the men’s shot put, the weight the boys throw,” Wyatt said. “I probably would have placed in some of the meets the guys were having but I couldn’t compete with them. We tried to get permission for me to compete. Williamsville sent a request to the Board of Regents but they declined it. There was no track for girls.”

There weren’t many scholarships, either. In the days before Title IX, opportunities for women to get college scholarships for track and field were limited to three schools – Tennessee State, Tuskegee and Hawaii. Wyatt had a decision to make: attend the University at Buffalo on a Regents Scholarship or take an athletic scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

Aloha.

She represented the United States at the 1963 Pan-American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she won a silver medal in the shot put.

She always used weight training to improve her throwing ability. Her weight lifting went to a new level in Hawaii when she started working with three-time Olympic medalist Tommy Kono. Now, not only did it supplement her work in throws, it became a competition in itself. Wyatt won the Women’s National Powerlifting Championships from 1976-79 while establishing more than 20 world records.

Powerlifting: Wyatt started lifting in high school and remembers going to a small gym with her mother.

“Men and women didn’t train on the same days,” Wyatt said. “There were women’s days and men’s days and the gym was divided. On one side of the gym was the male stuff – weights and benches. The female end was crazy. It had those vibrating belts that they said would shake and rub off the fat. Then these rowers that people would lean up against and something that looked like a rolling pin would beat against them. The theory was that it would beat up on the fat and it would disappear.

“I’d be over lifting weights. I was 16 at the time and the other women would say to my mother, ‘Aren’t you worried? She’s never going to have children.’ They thought if you did that you’d strain your reproductive ability and that it would really hurt you. People had odd ideas.”

Celebrity: “I ended up on the cover of Strength and Health magazine, one of the main magazines for people who lifted,” Wyatt said. “Because of that, I developed my own group following. People would show up to track meets and want to talk to me about lifting.”

There weren’t many women throwing shot put or lifting heavy weights. Wyatt was a pioneer, but she didn’t think about it at the time. She was just trying to get better at her sport.

“Younger people came into lifting and said, ‘Well, I’m doing this because of Cindy Wyatt.’ But I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I was more of an influence than I realized,” she said.

Post-career: Wyatt worked as a psychologist for 26 years for New York State. A round of downsizing had her rethinking her work, so in 1996, at age of 52, she went back to school at Ohio State to work on her doctorate. She works as a psychologist in the Columbus area part time, working mostly with senior citizens.

She’s still lifting weights and competing. She took about 10 years off but returned to compete in Masters track and field meets, winning several throwing events in the 70-74 age group.

“I feel best when out on the track training or in the gym lifting,” Wyatt said. “Those are the best parts of my day.”

The GBSHOF induction dinner is Oct. 6 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Here’s how Cindy did at Grand Valley State University in July:

W70 Shot Put 3K
===================
70 USATF: # 8.47m
Name Age Team Finals Points
===================
1 1006 Wyatt, Cindy W72 Unattached,Lewis Ce 8.46m 27-09.25 8
8.32m 8.46m 8.30m 8.11m 7.96m 8.02m
2 748 Raham, Sharon W70 Colorado Mas,Wellin 6.64m 21-09.50 6
6.61m 6.64m PASS PASS PASS PASS
3 433 Huff-Pawlik, Karen W73 Unattached,Jackson, 6.28m 20-07.25 4
5.61m 5.91m 6.28m 6.09m 5.86m 6.12m
4 725 Platis, Mary Lou W70 Unattached,Schererv 5.78m 18-11.75 3
5.32m 5.78m 5.31m 5.59m 5.50m 4.83m
5 779 Robinson, Mary W74 Unattached,Gahanna, 5.57m 18-03.25 2
5.38m 5.40m 5.35m 5.57m 5.43m 5.38m
6 881 Staab, Angela W73 Piedmont Pac,Reidsv 4.10m 13-05.50 1
4.06m 4.10m 3.92m PASS PASS PASS

W70 Discus Throw .75k
===================
Name Age Team Finals Points
===================
1 1006 Wyatt, Cindy W72 Unattached,Lewis Ce 22.54m 73-11 8
21.25m FOUL 21.34m 22.33m 20.37m 22.54m
2 748 Raham, Sharon W70 Colorado Mas,Wellin 18.39m 60-04 6
16.35m 16.58m 16.23m 15.87m 18.39m 14.88m
3 725 Platis, Mary Lou W70 Unattached,Schererv 15.24m 50-00 4
12.56m 14.50m 15.18m 14.14m 15.12m 15.24m
4 779 Robinson, Mary W74 Unattached,Gahanna, 14.47m 47-06 3
13.40m 14.47m 13.31m 14.15m 14.05m FOUL
5 433 Huff-Pawlik, Karen W73 Unattached,Jackson, 12.08m 39-07 2
FOUL 11.93m FOUL 11.55m 12.08m FOUL
6 881 Staab, Angela W73 Piedmont Pac,Reidsv 11.91m 39-01 1
9.92m 10.37m 11.12m 11.54m FOUL 11.91m

W70 Hammer Throw
===================
70 USATF: # 22.66m
Name Age Team Finals Points
===================
1 748 Raham, Sharon W70 Colorado Mas,Wellin 25.72m# 84-04 8
22.47m 20.76m 24.27m 25.72m 25.22m 23.27m
2 1006 Wyatt, Cindy W72 Unattached,Lewis Ce 25.53m# 83-09 6
FOUL 22.67m 24.90m 25.53m FOUL 23.87m

W70 Javelin Throw 400G
===================
70 USATF: # 28.42m
Name Age Team Finals Points
===================
1 462 Jenke-McMahan, Dia W70 Unattached,Bridgeto 22.57m 74-00 8
22.57m 21.97m 18.32m 21.06m 18.85m 17.25m
2 748 Raham, Sharon W70 Colorado Mas,Wellin 22.43m 73-07 6
20.26m 21.27m FOUL 21.13m 21.98m 22.43m
3 1006 Wyatt, Cindy W72 Unattached,Lewis Ce 13.35m 43-09 4
12.07m 13.14m 12.43m 13.35m 10.36m 11.89m
4 433 Huff-Pawlik, Karen W73 Unattached,Jackson, 12.81m 42-00 3
12.43m 10.20m 12.11m FOUL 12.14m 12.81m
5 779 Robinson, Mary W74 Unattached,Gahanna, 12.78m 41-11 2
12.70m 12.76m 12.78m 12.20m 11.44m 12.40m
6 881 Staab, Angela W73 Piedmont Pac,Reidsv 8.40m 27-07 1
7.64m 8.40m 7.68m FOUL 7.62m 8.03m

W70 Weight Throw 12#, 3k, 2k
===================
70 USATF: # 12.53m
Name Age Team Finals Points
===================
1 748 Raham, Sharon W70 Colorado Mas,Wellin 9.92m 32-06.50 8
8.62m FOUL 8.62m 8.93m 8.87m 9.92m
2 1006 Wyatt, Cindy W72 Unattached,Lewis Ce 9.69m 31-09.50 6
FOUL FOUL 9.02m 9.49m 8.52m 9.69m
3 779 Robinson, Mary W74 Unattached,Gahanna, 6.48m 21-03.25 4
5.87m 5.75m 6.47m 6.48m 6.46m 6.21m
4 881 Staab, Angela W73 Piedmont Pac,Reidsv 5.41m 17-09.00 3
5.30m 5.41m 5.07m 5.33m 5.16m 4.31m