AOF Executives

Cathy Oerter was the wife of Al Oerter and assisted him in founding Art of the Olympians in 2006.

Cathy’s credentials, like her husband’s, include both the art and sport worlds.

A high school track standout she won numerous national titles in track and field, made several USA international teams and started the women’s track program at her Alma matter, Iowa State University.

In 1974 she received a BA degree in Applied Art/Advertising Design and in 1979 a BA in Art Education K-12 from Puget Sound University.

Cathy taught high school art at Floral Park High School on Long Island and Federal Way High School in Seattle.

In 1991 Cathy completed her Teacher’s certification for Natural Movement Dance in London and her Examiner’s certification in 1993. She gives workshops in the US, England and Australia.

Cathy has been inducted into two Halls of Fame and received several awards for dedicated community service for education and drug prevention in Florida, New York and Washington State.

Today Cathy continues to honor children with The Al Oerter Outstanding Student Awards throughout the country, promotes art and poetry contests with embassies in DC and New York and has displayed student’s art at the United Nations.

In addition to devoting her life to the foundation and Al’s vision, Cathy participates in peace runs with the Sri Chinmoy Peace Runners around the world.

Roald Bradstock is a former Olympic javelin thrower (1984 & 1988 for Great Britain) and Olympic artist (2000 for the USA) and is known in the media as “The Olympic Picasso”.

Roald began his athletic career as a swimmer and olympic and power lifter. But it was his ability to throw a javelin where he really excelled. As a junior (under 20) in 1981, he was ranked #2 in the World. He went on to compete in the next two Olympic Games (’84, ’88), was an alternate for two more Olympic Teams (’92, ’96) and competed in a total of 8 Olympic Trials. His final competition was in 2012 where at the age of 50 he won the silver medal with a World Age Record. He is a former World Record Holder and is the current World Masters Record Holder for 50 and over (M50).

Roald attended high school in the UK where he got several “A” levels (Advanced levels) in drawing, painting and sculpture. He then relocated to the US and got a Bachelor of Arts in studio art (drawing, painting and printmaking) from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.

Between 1986 and 1996 Roald was a freelance illustrator for numerous magazines and newspapers. He then moved to Atlanta where he became a full time artist. In 2000 he won the painting division of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sports Art Competition hosted by the United States Sports Academy (USSA) and American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA). His work went on to be displayed at the International Olympic Exhibition in Lausanne, Switzerland at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Museum as part of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Cultural events.

In 2003 he won the prestigious International Sports Artist of the year award. In 2005 he became the first ever official artist for USA Track & Field. In 2006 he began campaigning the 2012 London Organizing Committee of the Olympics Games (LOCOG) about an ambitious sport art project. When the BBC heard about Roald’s proposal he became known in the media as “The Olympic Picasso”. In 2007 Roald became the first Olympic Ambassador for the British government’s 2012 Sports College Legacy Program. In the next 5 years Roald gave 27 sport art workshops around the UK at able and disabled bodied Sports Colleges with teachers and students from over a hundred colleges attending.

Between 2008 and 2012 Roald continued to push the sport art connection. He racked up dozens of official and unofficial World Records on and off the track throwing a slew of unusual and bizarre objects from iPods and Vinyl Records to dead fish and soft boiled eggs. He also turned the javelin runway into a fashion runway at both the 2008 USA T&F Olympic Trials and then again at the 2012 UK T&F Olympic Trials by wearing a variety of brightly colored hand painted outfits that matched his javelins. His “performance art” antics can be easily found on YouTube were he has logged millions of views.

Roald’s passion with the Olympics, sport and art began in 1968 at the age of 6 and has never wavered. While perusing his athletic and artistic dreams he has lived in 3 Olympic cities throughout his life – London (25 years), Los Angeles (7 years) and Atlanta (20 years). His life long goal is to unite the athletic side of the Olympics with the cultural side as the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre De Coubertin, and the Al Oerter envisioned.